A Better Whole
by Sabrina Empress of Insanity
Summary: Sequel to The Other Half! After months apart during college, the Golden Pair spend Golden Week together, but how has time and distance altered their relationship with each other? Shounenai
1. Chapter One: Rain I Desire

_Author's Note: Hi again everyone! …Well, in the tradition of The Other Half, we shall begin with Oishi. And there will indeed be interludes with the other Seigaku regulars we have come to know and love, hopefully almost all of them this time since this will probably go on longer than the prequel. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!_

**Chapter One: Rain I Desire **

_I need to let go  
__Need to want to keep letting you know  
__That we both have a reason to follow  
__Long as we let this lead  
_-Sara Bareilles, "Morningside"

The rain pattered gently against the windows of my room, my roommate chatted in lowered tones on the phone, and the clock silently turned over from 2:12 to 2:13. It was hard to tell that time was passing. How could anyone be certain without the seconds ticking by to prove it?

I made a visible effort to hide my impatience. I was nearly an adult, after all. I should be able to be patient instead of fidgeting and asking when it was going to be time yet like a little kid.

2:14. Hadn't it been 2:14 for ten minutes now? _That's it. I'm getting a non-digital watch tomorrow._

My roommate shoved his cell phone into his pocket and turned to me with a grin. "All right! It's a go. After class today I'll be heading over to Hokuto's for Golden Week."

I turned away from the persistently unmoving clock and pressed my hands together in gratitude. "You are a lifesaver, Hashimoto."

"Hardly. I should be thanking you." Hashimoto's grin grew sly. "You gave me a tailor-made excuse to spend the entire week at my girlfriend's apartment."

"Good for you. So you're a lifesaver getting his just rewards."

"That I am indeed." Hashimoto began to gather his books up from his desk and looked around the room anxiously for a moment. "Oishi, have you seen my book bag?"

"I put it on the hook on the back of the door."

"Thanks. You're almost as good as my mom at things like that." As he went back to putting together his things for class, Hashimoto asked absently, "Hey, your friend isn't going to destroy my bed, is he? I don't want to have to disinfect it or anything when I get back."

"Absolutely not. He gets my bed."

"Oh, good. I trust you with my stuff more than some stranger."

I chose to not say anything and simply responded with a faint hum of agreement before looking back at the clock. Time passes more quickly when there's something to distract you. It was now 2:19.

_...oh, no _way

I jumped up from my seat and searched around frantically for my jacket before remembering that it was hanging on the back of my chair where it always was. Hashimoto stared at me for a moment, completely perplexed, and suddenly laughed. "Wow, Oishi, I've never seen you caught by surprise before. I thought that was like death for a medical student."

"Kinesiology isn't the same as being pre-med," I corrected automatically as I tugged my shoes on and knelt to tie them. "I'm running late. I was supposed to leave at 2:15."

"The train is only a ten minute walk away," my roommate pointed out with a frown. "Isn't you friend getting in at 2:30?"

"He should be here at 2:35, actually, but he could get there early." I quickly double-checked my pockets to make sure I had my wallet and keys with me. "Besides, something could delay me."

Hashimoto shook his head in disbelief. "You're worried about being late and you're leaving with enough time to still be there ten minutes early. Amazing, Oishi."

When I was sure I hadn't forgotten anything, I pulled an umbrella out of the stand by our shoes and opened the door. "And you have five minutes before your professor locks you out of class."

The door closed on a string of curses that could peel paint from the walls as Hashimoto scrambled for the last of his things.

It wasn't actually raining outside, but the clouds were low and the air heavy with humidity, the kind of weather that promised persistent, miserable drizzle in place of a more enjoyable shower or thunderstorm. Still, even the weather could not dampen my mood. Minutes before I had been anxious and impatient. Now I was anxious, impatient, and more excited than I would have ever thought possible.

The university did not have classes during Golden Week, of course, and it was always nice having time off for the holidays. My parents had been content to let me stay on campus as my request, especially after seeing how much studying I had to do even during breaks the last time I had been home. With Hashimoto's girlfriend agreeing to let him stay with her, everything had fallen into place, save for one last important ingredient.

The subway station was crowded as always and the crush of anxious university students hurrying off for their week of idleness made it even more difficult to navigate without running into others than usual, but I didn't feel as guilty at bumping into the strangers there as I did every other time. I was just as excited as they were, maybe even more so, though I didn't know what they were all going off to do themselves. I was simply in too good of a mood to worry unless someone actually told me off, and since no one did, I didn't bother worrying.

Besides, if I stopped and apologized to everyone I ran into, like I had most of my life until starting at the university, who knew how long it might have taken me to get anywhere. I'd had to learn that the hard way during my first couple of weeks of school…it hadn't mattered how early I arrived at my stations, I'd been late everywhere because I had to say I was sorry to so many people, and since they never responded except to stare at me like I was insane, I'd finally forced myself to stop. Anyway, there was no way I was going to be late for this. I'd probably go crazy if I had to wait much longer.

At last I arrived at the platform for the train I needed, and for a moment I felt a surge of panic that I wouldn't be able to find him in the crowd. This was one of the express trains that ran outside of Kyoto and so it was much more crowded than usual with all of the students who were traveling back to their families or outside retreats for the week. There were so many people…what if I missed him somehow in the crowd? What if the train had actually come early and we had somehow passed each other by? I fumbled for my cell phone, suddenly convinced I needed to make a call right away, and before I could flip it open a new train pulled into the station.

I hesitated as people poured out of the doors and tried to make out which train it was from a distance. A moment later, there was a ripple of movement at one of the doors and one of the passengers shoved their way onto the platform and began pushing their way through the crowd as quickly as possible. A grin spread over my face and I dropped my phone back into my pocket, hooking the umbrella over my arm so that my hands were completely free when Eiji finally broke free of the crowd, dropped his bag to the ground with a crash, and threw himself at me with a shout. "Surprise!"

I staggered a bit under the weight of my old friend but the gesture was still so familiar it almost hurt. "You caught an earlier train."

"I did!" Eiji fell back and reached for his bag without looking behind him, practically beaming at me in pride. "I got to the station early so I wouldn't be late, and here I am." His grin faded and he suddenly frowned at me. "You're here early, too," he accused. "I was going to surprise you."

The station was suddenly way too warm, and I tugged at the hem of my jacket so that Eiji wouldn't see my expression. "Well, I didn't have anything going on so, ah, I just thought there wasn't any point in sitting around…"

Eiji kept his arms crossed, but his expression went sly. "You missed me that much?"

"No!" I answered too quickly, and wanted to kick myself. "I mean, of course I did, but that isn't why I'm here early."

From the look on Eiji's face, I could tell he wasn't fooled. I was never going to hear the end of this. "You just couldn't wait to see me, hmm, Syuichirou?"

"You couldn't, either, if you caught the earlier train!" I protested, but it was only half-hearted at best. The sound of my name coming from this young man I hadn't seen in what seemed like years was all that was needed to make the moment absolutely perfect.

The missing piece was back in my life.

I took Eiji's bag from him and smiled back at him. "Come on. The faster you unpack, the sooner I can show you around."

Eiji's face lit up again. "Eh? Show me around where? Hey, do I get to meet your roommate?"

"Probably, but he's staying with his girlfriend this week. She lives off campus."

"Hmmm? Really?" Eiji asked slyly as we made our way up the stairs towards the main station and the exits.

I shot him a look. "Pervert."

"Of course, nya!" Eiji laughed at the look of exasperation I sent him and unhooked the umbrella from my arm, tapping it in front of him as he walked like a cane. "Taka says hi, by the way. We might have to keep him as a cook or something one of these days. He feeds me better than my mom does at home."

"I'm not surprised."

"No, really, he's gotten a lot better! He's started making Western food when we have the extra grocery money and it's better than going to the restaurants even. I was actually surprised." With a twirl of the umbrella, Eiji went off on a monologue about Taka's cooking that quickly turned into stories about his classes, complaints about how the roller coast in Tokyo Dome city was a complete let-down, and something about Fuji and his professors in America refusing to let him in class. I nodded and answered the questions he occasionally asked but other than that there was no room for me to speak. Not that I minded. I was more than happy to just walk with Eiji and listen to him, right beside me, warm and smiling and real and…just…there, with me.

My sister used to tease me about being a hopeless romantic when it came to my former doubles partner, until she started dating in junior high and Eiji turned the tables on her whenever he had the chance. If she could have seen me then, she wouldn't have been able to resist giving me a hard time. I wouldn't have blamed her, either. I was surprised Eiji hadn't teased me longer himself. But I couldn't help myself. I was happy at school and my friends there were as good as any I had made in junior high and high school, but Eiji wasn't there and now that he was…well, suddenly I couldn't even imagine how I'd made it through the months without him actually physically there with me.

It was strange…when we were in high school, during our second year we'd taken some time off from each other, not for any real reason but because we both knew we would be leaving for university in only a couple of years and neither of us had ever been in a relationship with anyone else but each other, so we had decided to break things off to see what happened. I don't think either of us was happy with the decision, and I know that the one time I saw Eiji with someone else I had wanted to strangle both of them, but even then he had still been there, my best friend and the person I trusted more than anyone else in my life. We lasted three months before realizing that nothing had really changed at all…we still met up for lunch almost every single day, spent more time with each other outside of school than with any of our other friends or few romantic interests, went to each other first whenever we had important news, everything we had been doing from the moment we first started playing together back at Seigaku. We both stayed late after tennis practice one day, me to help clean the clubhouse and he to finish running some extra laps. Eiji had stolen my uniform shirt as a joke, I simply took his and put it on like it was my own, he complained that he couldn't wear mine because of the smell, and when I asked him what smell he was talking about, he crossed his arms and answered, "Yours, of course!"

"Mine?" I almost laughed. "That's not your best comeback, Eiji."

"Well, it's true," he retorted. "You have a very distinctive smell. It never changes."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that at all. My partner had fallen silent as well. He looked more embarrassed than I could ever remember seeing him, and since Eiji really had no shame it was more than a little bit strange to see him that flustered. Even so, his eyes were focused and clear when he looked at me, unflinching and intense and so blue it hurt to look at them. "This is pointless, isn't it?"

"What is?" I knew exactly what he meant, but the words spilled out before I could think.

Eiji had just rolled his eyes, shook his head, and sent me an expectant look. I don't know which of us kissed the other first, but it didn't really mater. We had months worth of them to make up anyway.

After that we hadn't even bothered to worry about what would happen when it was time to leave high school behind, even when I was accepted into Kyoto University and Eiji decided to stay and go to Bunkyo back home in Tokyo. We called each other almost daily, emailed each other constantly, or at least Eiji did me...it was a bit difficult to take notes in class and write a message on my phone at the same time, but since Eiji never waited for me to answer before sending his next email it didn't seem to bother him much.

But still, I hadn't actually seen Eiji since I had left for Kyoto at the beginning of the term. When he told me he had saved up enough money from his part time job to take a trip for Golden Week, I didn't even think before suggesting he come down to Kyoto. I'd missed him. It was that simple. I just hadn't realized how much until that moment when he was there with me again.

"Syuichirou? Hooooiii?" Eiji leaned in front of me and pressed his nose up against mine. "Earth to Syuichirou, is anyone home?"

I blinked and stepped back. "Ah, sorry, Eiji. You lost me somewhere around California."

"No kidding! That was a while ago. We're back in Kyoto now." Eiji bounced ahead a few steps and began walking backwards, staring at me intently the entire time. "I asked you what building you live in."

I winced as two girls turning the corner just barely missed running into my friend and glared at him as they walked past us. "It's on the next block. Eiji, maybe you should watch where you're going."

"Why? I don't know where we're going anyway. You can watch for me." Eiji grinned and stretched his arms above his head carelessly, nearly hitting another passerby with the end of the umbrella in the process. I groaned and hoped that we'd even make the remaining block without him knocking someone into traffic.

Still, Eiji was there, even if he was currently an accident waiting to happen, and he was smiling at me. I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else right then, not for anything in the world.


	2. Chapter Two: All That's Known

_Author's Note: Here we are at Chapter Two already! I'm trying to keep to a schedule when it comes to posting stuff, save for weeks when I have conflicts like finals or concerts, so hopefully we should have a new chapter of this every month or so, maybe even two a month. I'm not entirely sure what the plot is yet, other than exploring the Golden Pair in the adult world (insofar as college constitutes the adult world, which I'm still not sure it does…I'm pretty sure it's more like a bubble from another dimension or something), but I'm having fun tackling some of the themes that come up in the new setting, especially the ones this chapter! Oh, and just wait till next update…now _that_ is going to be _fuuuun

_Um. This time it's Eiji's turn. Happy reading!_

**Chapter Two: All That's Known**

_I lie back just drifting and play out these scenes  
__I ride all the rush of all the hopes and the dreams  
__I may be neglecting the things I should do  
__But we've all got out junk, and my junk is you  
_-"My Junk," Spring Awakening

The first thought I had upon entering Oishi's dorm room was that it was exactly like him. One desk had a messy stack of books on top of it next to the computer and one of the closet doors was partially open, but other than that, everything was organized, put in its place, tidy, and exactly how I had pictures Oishi living even after he moved out of his parents' house. There was even a book bag and windbreaker hanging on the hooks on the back of the door, exactly where they were supposed to be. Not that I knew anyone else who ever actually used those hooks at all, much less for what they were intended for. Yes, this was definitely Oishi's room.

The second thought was that I was in Oishi's room again, with him actually, physically there, and his roommate was gone for the week.

Oishi set my bag down beside the cleaner of the two desks (which was probably his, I figured) and before he could turn back to me I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pressed my cheek against his from behind. I was a bit worried that he would have forgotten, that he'd flinch or tense up for a second or two, but he just turned his head to make it more comfortable for me and I could feel him smile in amusement. "Oh, hello there. It's you."

"It's me," I replied and pressed my lips against his jaw line briefly before grinning back at him. "I know how you forget these things."

Oishi let out a short laugh and started to turn around to face me again. I let go of him reluctantly and the minute we were face to face I leaned up against him again and slipped my fingers through his. "This is nice," I told him, gesturing with my head to take in the entire room. "Mine is an absolute pit."

"And Kawamura puts up with it?" Oishi asked in mock disbelief.

"Not really, but it's easier for him to just keep his own half of the room clean than argue with me." I sighed tragically and fluttered my eyelashes helplessly. "I just need someone to take care of me, nya…"

"Have you thought about hiring a nanny?" he asked wryly.

"Well, you can just go on ahead and die, then," I pouted, lifting my nose high and looking pointedly away from him. I didn't let go of his hands, though. That would have just been crazy. "Some hospitality you're showing, you jerk."

"It's hard to be hospitable with a room the size of a utility closet."

"But it's so cozy!" I pulled back and clasped my hands in front of me dramatically, staring at Oishi with big, pleading eyes. "Can't we buy it, honey? It'll be so romantic and all ours!"

He stared at me silently for a moment, and then leaned back against the wall, laughing. I grinned and bowed. "Do I win, then?"

"You win," Oishi agreed as he caught his breath again. "I'm out of practice. Most of my classmates aren't much for joking unless it involves laughing at the professors."

"And here I thought doctors believed in the healing power of laughter."

With a sigh, my old partner shook his head and pulled out the desk chair for me before making his way to the couch. "Maybe you can explain to me why everyone thinks that a kinesiology major automatically means I must want to be a doctor?"

"Because you always took such good care of everyone, nya," I reminded him. "Besides, what else would kinesiology be good for?"

"Publishing health books, assisting with athletic programs…" Oishi paused, frowned, and sighed. "All right, fine. You win this one, as well."

Well, at least he knew who he was up against. Still… "Do I get to choose what I win?"

"I-" Oishi stopped abruptly and shut his mouth as I hopped back up from my chair and curled up on the floor at his feet, resting my head on his knees. Without waiting to see what he would do or say, I closed my eyes and let myself drift, just enjoying his company.

I could hear Oishi breathing behind me, but he didn't move away or stiffen or give any sign that he wanted me to leave, so I just listened to the sound and tried to match my breathing with his. Just as I fell back into synchronicity with him, with a physical click that vibrated through my entire body and made me wish it were possible to smile as wide as I wanted to at that familiar feeling of oneness with him, I felt a light touch on my head that became Oishi gently stroking my hair.

I let out a little hum of contentment. "You have a thousand years to stop doing that."

Oishi just let out a low chuckle above me and continued to run his fingers through my hair. "Did you know you purr when I do this?"

"No I don't. You're making that up."

"I am definitely not making it up."

I sat up abruptly and turned to look at him in shock. "No way!"

Oishi looked surprised, but there was also a glint of humor in his eyes, so I knew he couldn't be serious. _I hope, anyway_. "You didn't know?" he asked curiously.

I could feel my lips pursing halfway between thought and a pout. "You're kidding, right?"

Oishi smiled but didn't answer, and that was frustrating to the extreme. I pounded my fists on his thighs insistently. "Nyaaaa, quit it! I'm your guest, you're supposed to be nice to me!"

"Right, right." Oishi reached out, pressed his palm against my forehead, and gently pushed me away so he could stand. "Let's get you unpacked, all right? I thought we could go get something to drink while I show you around Kyoto, and then we need to meet up with some of my friends here for dinner. It's a Friday tradition." He hesitated, and suddenly he looked worried. "Unless that isn't okay with you?"

Something about his words sent an uneasy twinge through me, but I couldn't say why. I brushed it off and sprang back to my feet. "Sounds good to me! Where do I put my toothbrush?"

"It's good to know that you still have your priorities straight," Oishi teased as he stood to help me. I grinned back and hefted my luggage up onto the worn dorm couch. He had no idea how right he was. Being around him was always my top priority.

* * *

It had been years since I had last been to Kyoto…we had a class trip there my first year of high school, but that was three years earlier, and even then I hadn't been there during any holidays. Even in the damp, unpleasant drizzle that began as we made our way around the city, everything was brightly decorated and lit up, illuminating the myriad of umbrellas carried by the inhabitants of the old world. Everything seemed like a living, breathing part of history for some reason. Maybe it was because so many people were wearing full yukata whenever we walked near one of the major celebration spots and the temples that were scattered all over the city, or maybe it was the traditional music that echoes around downtown and the scent of traditional food wafting through the rain. I had to hold on to Oishi's arm the whole time or risk losing him and the safety of the umbrella we shared every time I stopped to get a closer look at something. And every time, my boyfriend simply smiled, joined me, and told me everything I could ever need to know about anything in Kyoto. 

As mystical as everything was, though, I still felt uneasy and a little bit worried. It seemed like nothing had changed between us, but every moment I spent around him in his new home was a painful reminder that things had changed, for both of us. Just last year we had both known everything about each other's lives: every person the other knew, every single place we went to do anything, the smallest details of our schedules, everything there was to know. Now, I didn't know where Oishi went to get dinner or coffee, or who his friends were here in Kyoto, or even when he had gotten the shirt he was wearing. I found myself feeling more and more nervous about meeting up with his friends. What if I truly felt like an outsider then?

I didn't want to be on the outskirts of Oishi's life. It was selfish, but it was still true. If I could be an outsider in this major part of his life, how easy would it be for me to fall out of it entirely?

As I stared at a group of junior high girls in pastel kimonos giggling together over their fortunes at the corner temple, Oishi's voice startled me out of my thoughts. "How is your family doing?"

_He didn't used to have to ask that_, a nasty voice in my head whined, and I did my best to ignore it. "They're good. Kazuki changed his postgraduate course to theoretical mathematics, and Aoi finally moved in with her fiancé last month."

"Really?" Oishi sounded concerned. "Isn't that awfully early?"

"Not really. They've been dating for three years, remember?"

"I know," he explained with a worried frown, "but that's so short…"

He pursed his lips in thought and I suddenly had to laugh. It was just so _him_ to be worried that someone who wasn't even in his family was rushing into marriage after such a long time. "It's fine, really. The apartment is pretty close to Mom and Dad's, so if anything goes wrong she'll have some support. Don't worry so much about it!"

With a loud sigh, Oishi nodded, but he still looked a bit uncomfortable. When he spoke again, I immediately understood. "And what about your other brother?"

My hands tingled with adrenaline at the mention of him, but unfortunately I was used to the pain by now. "Tetsu's fine. He visits plenty."

Oishi turned to me with a raised eyebrow and it was my turn to sigh. "Well, he visits everyone else. He still avoids me if he can. And when he can't, he just makes it very obvious that if anyone mentions me being gay in any way, he'll leave." I shrugged, not even bothering to hide my annoyance. "Mom says he'll get over it, and things are better I guess, but he still ignores that you exist."

"I thought you father might have stopped that by now," Oishi mused.

"He tries, but it makes him uncomfortable, too," I reminded him. "But at least he admits that you exist and that I love you."

Green eyes locked with mine and I completely forgot what we were talking about as I lost myself in them. _God, you make me fall in love with you just by existing._ "I'm sorry," Oishi murmured carefully. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

"Huh?" _Smooth, Kikumaru_. I yanked myself back to the present. "Don't worry about it. You still have to take care of everyone, Syuichirou."

"Not really," he protested with a smile. "Just you."

"Well, good. I'm no good at being jealous. Thanks for saving me the trouble."

Oishi put a hand on my shoulder, sending a familiar shiver through me, and gave me an affectionate squeeze before letting his hand fall again. "Lucky me, then. Come on, quit staring at all these pretty girls before I get jealous instead. The restaurant is over there and we're running late."

The reminder brought back all of my nerves full-force, but I pushed them aside. Nervous or not, I was too happy to be near him again to want to spoil anything. I rolled my eyes in mock sorrow and defeat. "Hoi, hoooi…"

Oishi didn't say anything, but when he glanced back at me with a smile, there was something in his eyes that suddenly made all of my worries seem completely ridiculous. It was something like what I felt when he had put his hand on my shoulder…a sense of much missed familiarity that never really went away.

Even if his friends didn't like me, he would still love me. That was what was important, not us having identical lives. I sped up to walk beside him as we crossed the street and decided that this was the most beautiful rainy day I had ever seen.

* * *

"It was _not_ a fetus, Itou, for crying out loud!" 

"Can we not discuss embryos in the restaurant, please?" Oishi asked lightly as he set down his chopsticks. "That is a mental image none of us need right now."

His friend Itou grinned and winked at me conspiratorially. Apparently he and Oishi had almost all of their classes together, and he had a black sense of humor to match Fuji's from what I'd seen during dinner. I definitely liked him plenty. "What about growing organs in jars? May we discuss that instead?"

A pretty girl in a simple blue dress whose name I couldn't quite remember still let out a cry of disgust. _"No!"_

"Ignore him, Uchida," gruff, stocky Kakashi scoffed as he dug back into his meal. "Itou has to make anything as disgusting as possible."

The girl who had been telling the fetus-that-was-not-a-fetus story, a blonde named Nishida, spoke up again with a glare. "Obviously. Who else could turn a harmless date story into something that gruesome?"

"Fetuses aren't gruesome," I chimed in, taking Itou's side for the fun of it. "They're cute and squishy!"

Nishida shot me a glare and Oishi rubbed at his temples, his expression a bit queasy. "Eiji, you aren't helping."

Well, obviously. Where would the fun have been in that? I flashed him an innocent smile and made my eyes go as wide and guiless as possible. "But Oishi, I thought you had to get used to these sorts of things for science class! I thought I _was_ helping!"

The others all laughed except for Nishida who still seemed annoyed at me trying to further Itou's joke, and Oishi made a face at me while Itou slung an arm over my shoulder. "I like this guy, Oishi. If all your friends from Tokyo are like this, we need to kidnap them every time we go out drinking!"

"Especially if they're this cute," Uchida added with a flirtatious grin as her cheeks flushed prettily.

I stood up to bow like I'd seen in those old European movies, trying to hide my grin a little bit longer. "You flatter me, Uchida-dono."

Akizuki, Oishi's lab partner, cracked up. "_Dono,_ at that! You're going to give Uchida an embolism if she blushes any harder!"

"Aneurism," Kakashi corrected as he downed the rest of the sake pitcher.

As I sat back down and grinned at Uchida to put her at ease again (she smiled back at me but this time without the rush of color this time), I went back to my meal so that I could go back to observing everyone else, and especially Oishi. I was having a lot more fun than I had expected I would at the dinner…I'd expected most of Oishi's friends to be kind of brainy, the sort that talked about the news and science stuff over dinner and nothing very interesting at all, but while they had to smart to have gotten accepted into the various science programs at Kyoudai, their Friday dinners seemed to be more of an excuse to relax and let go than talk about classes and serious matters. I mean, there were science jokes aplenty and a lot of inside jokes about their professors and fellow students, but everyone was friendly and down to earth. When Oishi introduced, "my best friend from home, Kikumaru Eiji," everyone had immediately started chattering away and asking me questions about Oishi when he was younger.

It was really, really hard to resist the urge to tell them all of the most embarrassing things I could remember. So I decided to not even bother resisting. Oishi blushing was just too cute, anyway, so that was just an extra added bonus.

I still wasn't sure about Nishida, but the rest of Oishi's friends I had decided I liked quite a bit, and they all seemed to like me back. It was a massive weight off of my mind, knowing that his new life would not exclude me from his in the least.

As I reached for the water pitcher to refill my glass, Akizuki held up a hand for silence. "So, Kikumaru. You've known Oishi how long again?"

"Seven years," I answered automatically. "Seven? Yeah, seven years. Since junior high."

"You guys went to the same school, yeah?" When I nodded and shot Oishi an amused glance at the fact that his friends were so drunk they didn't remember all of the questions they had already asked, Akizuki didn't seem to notice. "So you must know about his mysterious girlfriend, then!"

Oishi choked on a mouthful of rice and my head snapped back around so quickly that I wrenched my neck. _"Ack!_ Ow…"

Once the pain in my neck had faded enough for me to stop hissing in pain, I raised an eyebrow at Oishi. "Girlfriend?"

"You don't know either?" Itou cried incredulously. "No way! We thought you'd have to know!"

"Oishi never tells us anything about her," Kakashi explained, frowning into his empty sake cup. "Omori from O-Chem tried asking him out right at the beginning of the school and he told her he already had somebody back home in Tokyo. All he'll tell us beyond that is that they met in junior high."

One look at Oishi's horrified expression was all it took to make up my mind. "Really?" I asked with an evil grin. "You have a girlfriend, Oishi?"

"He told me she was in the tennis club," Uchida added suddenly.

"When?"

"You were there, too, Nishida, remember? I asked how they met and he said, 'We both played doubles at school….'"

"Oh, that's right!" Nishida cried. "I'd forgotten that! Kikumaru, you must know her, then, you said you were Oishi's doubles partner."

I pretend to think for a moment. This was way too much fun. I was never letting Oishi live this down. "I actually didn't pay much attention to the girls on the team. Our captain gave me laps if he caught me not paying attention. Oishi must've gotten away with it because he was vice-captain," I added slyly.

"You checked her out during tennis practice?" Itou crowed. "All right Oishi!"

"I…no, it…there was…" Oishi sputtered incoherently, his face the reddest I have ever seen it, and fell silent, shooting me a look of entreaty. I smiled back sweetly. _Not a chance, buddy._

"The girls on the team were cute, though," I continued happily. "Remember Ryuuzaki-sensei's little niece, Oishi? She was adorable, wasn't she?"

Kakashi choked on the water he had downed in place of sake. "The coach's niece?"

"Is that who she is?" Uchida asked excitedly. "Really, Oishi?"

"No!" he yelped desperately. "Echizen liked Sakuno, not me! She was two years younger than us!"

"You don't like younger girls?" I asked innocently. "I never saw you date any girls at all. I don't know what your type is. Some best friend you are, Oishi!"

"Oh, knock it off already!"

The rest of the guys and I burst out laughing at the expression on Oishi's face, but Uchida stepped in quietly. "All right, that's enough. If he doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to. We're just curious, Oishi, really. We didn't mean to embarrass you."

I had, but there was no way I was admitting it. Instead I sighed as Nishida chided, "Nami's right, everyone. You should be ashamed."

"Oh, yes, because all I ever wanted was your approval, Nishida," Itou groaned as he rolled his eyes.

I tuned out again as the conversation turned to teasing the rather stiff-necked girl and instead reached under the table to carefully take Oishi's hand. He looked up from his lap at me, his eyes nervous and uncertain. I gave his fingers a light squeeze and sent him a small, quick smile before looking back at the others. But I didn't release the light grip I had on his hand.

After a moment, Oishi let out a faint sigh, so quiet that I could barely hear it, and I felt him relax beside me again. He held my grasp a moment longer and then gently withdrew his fingers from mine. I let him, and folded my hands in my lap with a warm feeling of satisfaction.

The feeling lasted through all of the rest of dinner, and I could tell that he felt it, too.


	3. Chapter Three: Too Late to Stop

_Author's Note: Chapter Three, yippee! Okay, this is actually the chapter that decided me in regards to writing this fic. See, during Spring Semester 2007, I had to take a class called Social and Political Implications of American Music, which on one hand sounds like it would be awesome but on the other hand was in reality a big gigantic bore…once a week we spent two and a half hours sitting in a classroom listening to our professor lecture us on basics of US history sprinkled in with listening to important songs of the era and the occasional thirty year old independent low-budget documentary. We all mostly just passed notes and worked on other homework during that class, but one day I had no homework to do, decided to try and work on The Other Half a little bit (clearly THAT didn't work), and ended up writing this really fun and yummy scene with the boys in a dorm room. So that ended up being what made me decide I had to write this sequel, and I've been waiting for almost a year to get to this scene. Oh, it was fun to finally finish writing. Sexual frustration is _always_ a blast, don't you agree? _

_...or not, according to Oishi. So I'll just let him talk now, okay? Okay!_

**Chapter Three: Too Late to Stop**

_Is it safe now?  
__Will your arms be open?  
__I just have to kiss you  
__Try and stop me.  
_-Imogen Heap, "Closing In"

As my friends and I walked through the drizzle back to campus, I told myself over and over again that it had all gone fine. All of my university friends, with the exception of Nishida which was hardly a surprise, seemed to enjoy Eiji's company as much as they did mine, if not more. Uchida in particular seemed to approve of him in her quiet, affecting way; she had smiled at him more than she usually did and he seemed to put her at ease. Uchida was a bit on the shyer side, having come from an international school in Okinawa, and while she was always friendly and sweet, she rarely seemed to genuinely like someone just on their first meeting. Itou had told me that same thing after I had first met her, explaining that I was the first person he had seen her smile at since he had met her a week earlier. It was a huge relief to know that she already trusted Eiji that much.

Enough to join in the interrogation about my "girlfriend" back at home.

_Oh dear god._

And there it was again. I kept trying to push that conversation out of my mind and focus on all of the good things that had happened today, but it kept coming back anyway. What Eiji must have thought! I couldn't even begin to sort through all of the thoughts that had flown into my head when Akizuki had asked if Eiji knew about this mysterious girlfriend I didn't even know they were gossiping about…what had Eiji been thinking, then?

It wasn't like I had been trying to hide him…that was the problem. I hadn't been trying to hide him, but for some reason I had never told anyone about him, not really. Nishida had started cozying up to me during the very first week of school and then Omori had tried asking me out while I was still trying to get the hang of school, and while I knew I hadn't told them I had a girlfriend, I hadn't exactly said I was dating my doubles partner who just happened to be another man, either. I'd told them I was involved with someone back at home, and they hadn't pressed so I hadn't told them anything else. Even when my other friends began asking questions about it (and they hadn't even asked that many…how was I supposed to know they were _obsessing_ about it?), I hadn't said anything. It just hadn't come up.

It was such a simple and sensible excuse. And it was absolute shit. I should have known better. What had I been thinking?

It wasn't as if Eiji and I were really, well, out and proud I guess would be the saying…once we had told Ryuuzaki-sensei about the two of us, we hadn't bothered to try and keep it a secret at school anymore, but most of that was due to the fact that both of us knew that keeping the rest of the team quiet would be absolutely impossible, especially since they had figured it all out without us telling any of them. So everyone at school had known, and in high school as well, but we had never actually told anyone. Word just got around. And as for our families…oh no…what _was_ Eiji thinking when he found out I hadn't told anyone in Kyoto? That must've been like a knife in the gut. How could I have been so stupid?

Eiji had actually come out to his family, but not at all in the way he wanted to given that his brother had caught up in his room one evening, told their other siblings, and fought until Eiji eventually exploded at the dinner table and told everyone what was going on; I'd been luckier, so to say. My little sister knew because she had done nearly the same thing as Eiji's brother during our second year of high school, which was definitely not an experience I looked back on with any fondness since my _little sister_ had walked in on us practically nude while engaging in activities I didn't even want to _think_ about her knowing about, but other than that and me briefly trying to explain things to my father before my sister got to him and asked about what we had been up to, no one really knew about me. Not my mother, not my grandparents or extended family…and not my friends at the university.

Eiji had had no choice and I still didn't even have the courage to tell my friends, "Yeah, I'm dating my best friend from my junior high tennis team, his name's Eiji Kikumaru and by the way, yeah, he's a guy." Some boyfriend I was.

Still…Eiji hadn't made a scene at dinner or anything. Maybe he hadn't minded. Or maybe it hurt so much that he couldn't even think of what to say to me. Or maybe he thought…I didn't know. It hurt my stomach just thinking about it.

I decided to try and be amused by the way that Nishida kept giving Eiji the cold shoulder the rest of the way back to the dormitory she and I both lived in. The girl really had no idea how jealous she could get over even the silliest things.

_Or that her jealousy is justified, for once,_ I thought, and had to pretend to cough to keep from laughing out loud at the irony.

Itou and Kakashi split off from the group first, since they lived in a different building than the rest of us, and Akizuki left not soon after for the station that took him back to his apartment on the outskirts of the city, being our upperclassman and all. Uchida was the last to depart as we left her at the front of the building next to ours. She bowed to Eiji with a sweet smile and offered me an apologetic embrace before hurrying inside out of the chilly air. I could have thanked her forever for those simple gestures. They said everything that needed to be said right then.

At last, Eiji and I made it back up to my room, with Nishida following us all the way and chattering away while rather pointedly ignoring Eiji at the same time. At last, I turned to wish her goodnight. "It was a fun evening, Nishida. I'm glad you felt healthy enough to come back again."

She shook her head dismissively and waved her hands more dramatically than she needed to. "It was only a cold, Oishi! I wouldn't miss meeting up with you all unless it was really serious, you know that!"

"I know." I smiled back and turned to unlock my door. "Maybe we'll see each other again before classes are back in session."

"Oh…" Nishida's voice was a bit annoyed, but she sighed and began heading back down the hall towards the stairs to her own room again. "Yeah, maybe. Have a good Golden Week."

"You, too," Eiji and I called in unison as she disappeared down the stairs.

When the door closed behind us and we were alone at last, I wasn't even sure what to say. It was sudden and disconcerting. I always knew what to say to Eiji. But I didn't know where to being this time. It wasn't a feeling I liked at all.

Thankfully, Eiji seemed to know exactly what to say. "Nishida's not the friendliest girl, is she?"

"She's nice enough," I answered as I took his coat and hung it next to mine on the back of the door. Eiji's gaze followed me as I did so and he snorted in amusement for some reason, but I had no idea why. "She's actually very friendly in class," I continued. "Pretty much everyone likes Nishida as long as they haven't made her mad."

"I bet she's a demon when she's mad," Eiji commented as he walked to the center of the room and looked around a bit. "Isn't your roommate back yet?"

"We probably missed him. He's staying with his girlfriend this week so the room doesn't get too crowded with you here." I studied the room myself with a faint frown. At last I realized what was wrong and strode over to the other desk. "Yeah, we missed them," I added as I ran a hand over the soft, decorative scarf draped over the back of my roommate's chair next to a wide-brimmed, feminine hat. "It looks like we'll see them sometime tonight, though. I think his girlfriend forgot these."

I looked up to catch Eiji's expression without thinking, and he grinned hugely. "Great! You already know my roommate, so it's only fair that I get to know yours, too."

"How did you and Taka end up getting roomed together, anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Tennis. We're all in the same building and rooms, and there aren't that many of us on the team so it was easy to get into the same room. If Nishida's so friendly, why was she treating me like I'm contagious or something?"

It took me a split second longer than it used to, but I was getting used to Eiji's rapid changes in topics again faster than I thought I would. "She's a bit possessive. She doesn't like anyone that she thinks is going to interfere with her spending time with me, that's all."

"Oh, and obviously I…wait a second." Eiji frowned in thought and tilted his head at me. "Why you?"

I felt my cheeks grow suddenly warm. It didn't matter that I wasn't interested and Eiji knew it…it was still embarrassing. "Ah, Nishida has a bit of…she…well, she's interested in me. Romantically, I mean. So…yeah."

I watched my friend nervously, unsure of how he would react after the events at dinner. He stared back at me with wide, surprised blue eyes…and burst out laughing.

As I reeled in confusion, Eiji fell onto the couch, laughing uproariously. "She…she honestly thinks…even though you told them…"

I couldn't help but laugh with him. It _was_ funny, after all. "Well, she doesn't know about you _specifically_…"

That just made him laugh even harder, until he fell onto his side, his head pressed right against my leg, shaking with breathless amusement. I had no idea why he found _that_ so funny, but his laughter was contagious and soon we were both gasping for breath, slumped in our seats, clutching our stomachs and trying to stop. The problem was the minute our eyes would meet…that would just set us right off again.

At last I managed to get myself under control and pulled myself back onto the couch. Eiji sat up, wiping his eyes and trying to breathe deeply. For a long time we just sat there, not quite leaning against each other, recovering. Finally I turned to Eiji a bit uncertainly. I had to ask. "You don't mind, then?"

He knew exactly what I meant without me explaining, and snorted again. "Not really. No one at Bunkyou knows your name, either. They just know I have a boyfriend somewhere. Why would I care?"

I shrugged. It seemed silly, but I still wanted to know for sure. "Boyfriend being the key word. It never came up here."

Eiji rolled his eyes. "Get a grip, all right? Syuichirou, if I minded, would I have started teasing you at dinner? They know you aren't available. Honestly, if Taka weren't in so many of my classes, I probably wouldn't have said anything, either."

"Oh." Now I really felt silly, but still, I was relieved. "…wait, what does Kawamura have to do with anything?"

Eiji grinned wickedly. "Can't you just see the look on his face whenever I start talking about 'my boyfriend' when he's around? Plus, all the girls flock to us now that they know I'm off-limits, and he gets even more flustered around them."

That startled another laugh out of me, though it made my sides ache again for a moment. "That's terrible, Eiji!"

"I know," he smirked. Without warning, he hopped off of the couch and grabbed Hashimoto's girlfriend's hat and scarf from the back of his chair. "Well, you'll have to tell them one of these days. In the meantime, though…" He threw the scarf dramatically over his neck, set the hat on his vivid hair at a rakish angle, and struck a pose. "Am I a convincing enough girlfriend?"

I started at him for a moment and pretended to consider. "You look like an idiot."

"Too bad. I'm not putting on a dress, no matter how much I love you." My friend pretending to glare at me for a moment, then grinned and plopped back down beside me, bouncing a little on the cushions like a child before looking back at me. "What?"

I mentally shook myself. Who knew what it was? There was just something about that moment, the way the hat still sat crooked on his head, the little bounce as he sat...it was all so totally Eiji. I hadn't realized how badly I'd missed him till that moment. "I'm just glad that you're here. That's all."

Eiji positively glowed, but all he said was, "Can we get under that blanket? It's so damp here. I'm never getting warm again."

I reached for the wrap draped over the arm of the couch and shook it out, tossing one side to Eiji so we could pull it over our legs. "It's no rainier here than inn Tokyo."

"Yes it is."

"No, not really."

Eiji leaned over to tug the blanket more fully over my legs. "Yes, it-"

His eyes widened in momentary surprise and then closed as I pressed my lips to his. God, how long had I wanted to kiss him? His laugh, his eyes, his breath against my face, the chill, wintry hint of his toothpaste, his fingers through mine, his heartbeat against mine as he pressed himself against me…I'd missed him so, so much.

Eiji leaned into the kiss, breathing in deeply, and just…_sighed_, this little shuddered gasp of breath against my mouth, and tightened his grip around my waist. I fell back against the back of the couch and he pushed the blanket aside as he swung his leg over mine, pressing against me as our kisses grew more heated and fierce. My fingers pulled shakily at the edge of his shirt, then found their way beneath it, running up over his back and tracing the line of his spine, the curve of his ribs, over his chest, everywhere they could get to. His skin was on fire, burning beneath my touch…the cold was no longer an issue. The entire room was too hot, and we didn't care.

Somewhere in the haze of heat and need, a part of me marveled at Eiji's ability to work the buttons of my shirt so deftly with only one hand, as the other was still firmly wrapped around my waist. Everything narrowed and faded until it was just me and Eiji, just us, nowhere but with each other. We were so absorbed that I don't think we even knew what we wanted anymore.

Although devouring Eiji whole seemed like a pretty good option to me.

I broke free of his lips and trailed kisses along his jaw, down his neck, over the pulse in the hollow of his jaw, and he let out a slow, shaky moan that vibrated through my lips on his skin. Eiji ran his hands over my chest maddeningly…and there was a knock at the door.

I froze.

After a moment, Eiji whispered into my hair almost inaudibly, "Should we answer?"

I thought for a brief…_very_ brief…moment, then shook my head. "Ignore it," I answered quietly, and looked up to catch his earlobe in my teeth.

Eiji pressed a hand to his mouth to muffle the throaty cry I could feel pulsing in his throat, but before I could see what other reactions I could get out of him, whoever was at the door knocked again, this time more persistently. "Oishi? Are you there?"

I pulled back with a hiss of frustration. "It's my roommate's girlfriend."

Eiji sighed and rolled off of me, pulling his shirt back into place as he did so. I shoved my own underneath the blanket on the couch and reached for my closet, hoping I had a clean sweater hanging near the front. "Coming!"

It took only a second to pull the sweater over my head, and I didn't think that Hashimoto's girlfriend suspected a thing when I let her in. She bowed quickly and glanced over at where Eiji sat on the couch curiously. "Oh, is this your friend?"

"Ah, yeah. This is my friend Eiji Kikumaru. Eiji, this is my roommate's girlfriend, Hokuto Yamaguchi."

"Nice to meet you," Eiji managed with remarkable friendliness, given the circumstances.

The pretty young woman bowed again. "Likewise. I'm sorry to interrupt," she added, "but I left my hat and scarf here…?"

"Yes, you did. They're right here…" I trailed off as Eiji picked the two items off of the floor to bring to her. "We accidentally knocked them down earlier and I guess we forgot to pick them up again. Sorry."

"Not at all," she replied, but as she said her goodbyes and left again, I thought I caught a glimpse of suspicion on her face.

Eiji breathed a heavy sigh of relief as I locked the door again. "That was awkward."

"Really?" I replied wryly. "I didn't notice."

"Awww," he cooed at me as he patted the couch beside him again, "poor Oishi. Need to relieve some of that tension?"

It was impossible not to smile when he teased me in that tone of voice. I happily made my way back to the couch, pressed my lips against his again, and rested my forehead against his. "Well, if you insist."

"Oh, I do, nya," Eiji replied with a wicked grin. "I really do."

It didn't take long to get back to where we had left off. It was strange…I don't think that Eiji and I had done this more than a few times and the overwhelming sensations we seemed to be able to bring out with each other made that clear enough every time, but at the same time it was just so familiar, so eternal, so _right_. I'd thought the same thing the first time we'd crossed that line and maybe it shouldn't have felt that way the first time but somehow it did. It was like we already knew everything about each other's bodies already, even if we had never gone so far before. Not that everything was perfect…Eiji managed to elbow me in the face and give me a black eye at one point, I'd drawn blood unintentionally while nibbling on his shoulder, Eiji complained that he'd hurt his neck getting pushed up against the wall, and of course it had all been over way too soon for either of our enjoyment…but it wasn't like a discovery. It was familiar. It was forever. It was everything I imagine married couples who have been together for decades feel together…it just happened to us about twenty years earlier than I expected.

Although it wasn't as if either of us ever complained about being bored or not being in the mood. And since we hadn't seen each other in months, we weren't about to start right then!

Eiji had taken the lead this time, and I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning too loudly as he ran his tongue over my chest and slipped one hand deftly past my waistband, running his fingers along that line and refusing to go any further until I thought I was going to scream if he didn't get on with it already. As if he knew was I was thinking, Eiji snickered and went to work on the buttons again.

And there was another knock at the door.

"You have got to be joking," Eiji hissed. "Don't answer it this time."

I really, really wanted to agree. The whispered words were on my lips when a voice called out. "Oishi! It's Kaneda! Are you finished with my notes yet?"

I managed not to groan and extracted myself from Eiji's limbs, yanking my sweater over my head again and pulling it down as far as it would go just in case. Eiji rolled his eyes and yanked the blanket up from the floor to cover himself. It was probably for the best. He'd managed to lose a lot more clothing than me this time.

I wondered if that just meant he was more impatient, or if it meant that I was.

I opened the door to pass the notebook out to Kaneda without inviting him in. "Sorry. I forgot to give them back to you this morning in class."

"No problem. At least you gave them back at all." Kaneda suddenly frowned and peered over my shoulder. "Did you know your blanket is undulating?"

"I found a stray cat," I replied without turning around, mentally cursing Eiji and telling him to stop whatever it was he was doing right that second. "I'm trying to warm him up."

"But we aren't allowed-"

"See you later, Kaneda," I interrupted gently, and closed the door and locked it yet again.

The second the bolt shot home, I whirled to look at the couch where Eiji's head had just popped out from underneath the blanket. "Do I eve want to know?"

Eiji pretended to think about it for a moment. "Yes," he answered at last and stood up.

The blanket dropped to the floor and I stared without speaking for a full minute. I think my brain simply overloaded for a moment…or…something. "Can I ask," I managed at last, "how you managed to get completely undressed underneath a throw blanket?"

Eiji grinned. "I'm bendy and flexible, remember?"

I definitely did. It was just hard to think when all of your blood has completely left your head.

I started to make my way back to him when there was another knock at the door. With a mental scream, I started to turn, trusting Eiji to get back underneath the blanket while I answered the door. Instead, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back away from the door even as the person outside knocked again.

"If you answer that," he growled at me in a low voice, "I will kill you here on the spot. And no court would convict me."

"We don't know who it is," I protested weakly. "What if-"

"I don't care who it is," Eiji snapped back. "I swear, Syuichirou, if you don't fuck me _right now_, I will make you miserable for the rest of this vacation." His voice dropped ominously and his eyes were furious and oh god hot as all hell and I was going crazy looking into them…

"I know you're in there, Oishi," a voice called, "I ran into Hashimoto and his girl downstairs and they said she was just up there. Come on, open up?"

I turned out of habit, and Eiji shoved his body up against mine, knocking me into my closet as he devoured my mouth with his own and pressed his hips insistently against me.

The door could wait, I decided dizzily, and slid to the floor with him.

It took no time whatsoever for Eiji to yank my trousers down past my knees and yank me on top of him while I struggled out of my sweater yet again. I don't think either of us were able to breathe properly, but it didn't matter at all when Eiji arched up against me and buried his face against my neck. I briefly thought about the drawer in my desk that we hadn't even gotten to yet, but it was too late at that point to think about going the rest of the way tonight. There was no way we were going to last that long now.

It was all over almost too quickly, the friction of our own bodies enough to send us both gasping to orgasm, but then again, we'd wasted most of the evening just fooling around to get to that point instead of finishing up before we were interrupted. I wasn't going to complain. Given the way that Eiji wrapped his arms around me after it was all over, pulling me back down so that we lay with our stomachs damp against each other while he kissed me long and deep, it didn't seem like he was going to, either.

At last I sat up and Eiji released me reluctantly. "You're a mess."

"You too," he shot back. "You've still got your pants on one leg, got a handkerchief in the pockets somewhere?"

I tossed him mine a second later and had to grin when he mimed waving it at me like a trophy wife before throwing it back to me when he was finished. "You would be a good girlfriend," I teased gently.

"I can think of at least one reason why you'd hate it if I was."

Before I could retort, there was a clack as a key shot into my door and my heart stopped.

I met Eiji's eyes and they widened without me even having to say a word. Within seconds, we were both scrambling for clothing as the tumbler in the lock turned, too fast, much too fast. I silently cursed everyone I had even known as I yanked my pants back up and fumbled with the buttons with shaking hands. Not too far away, Eiji was just getting one leg into his own, an expression of righteous anger at his clothing on his face as he tried to get the other one to fit in the same trouser leg. The door opened before he could figure out what he was doing wrong.

Hashimoto stared at us for a moment, eyes wide, mouth hanging open slightly. I couldn't really blame him. There was certainly no doubt what he had walked in on with me half-seated with my fly open and no shirt and Eiji the next thing to completely naked on the floor next to me. My roommate held up a finger and opened his mouth, then closed it again and let out a burst of air through his nose. He scratched his head, started to speak and stopped again, and finally managed to find his voice.

"Ah…" He cleared his throat nervously. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything. Sorry."

I dropped my head into my hands. "This is not happening," I groaned.

"First Tetsu, then your sister, now this," Eiji mused aloud. "If this is going to become a pattern, we're going to need a bomb shelter to keep people out."

"I just came up because Kirika came downstairs asking to be let in since you weren't answering the door," Hashimoto protested. "I wasn't trying to get a glimpse of…um…"

"Do you need details to finish that thought?" Eiji asked with perfectly honest curiosity.

"Now is not the time," I hissed at him.

Hashimoto shook his head and frowned for a moment. At last he spoke again. "Well, thanks again for having your friend use your bed this week," he managed with only a small cough. "Really."

The door closed again and I let out a breath I hadn't even known I was holding. "That was an experience I could have done without."

"Hey, at least you were halfway decent," Eiji pointed out. "I think I might be branded in that guy's mind for the rest of eternity. I feel really guilty!"

That startled a weak laugh out of me, and at that moment Hashimoto opened the door. This time he wore a wry grin, though he did pointedly hold up a hand to block Eiji from his vision while he spoke.

"By the way, you just cost me two thousand yen," he told me. "Hokuto's suspected since she first met you. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt saying you were straight. You owe me my money back, Oishi."

This time when we laughed as he closed and locked the door again, it was genuine.


	4. Chapter Four: Terrified Heart

_Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, guys…midterms+unexpected brand new local anime con+singing the Harmony Sweepstakes (which is a big deal for those who aren't familiar with it)Sabrina being too busy to write. But I'm back now, huzzah! I just hope this is worth the wait to you all. I'm a bit disappointed in this chapter, but I think it's just because filler chapters are difficult for me to write. Well, anyway! It's Eiji's turn again. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Four: Terrified Heart**

_You know me now but to do better than that  
You've got to follow me  
Boy I'm trying to show you where I'm at  
_-Poe, "Hey Pretty"

From the very first moment that I opened my eyes, I knew I wasn't in my own bed. For starters, the light had a very different quality than I was used to…the foot of my bed pointed right at the window so that the sun shone directly into my eyes in the morning instead of out of my periphery, and the light didn't usually have that dingy, grey quality. Also, my arms and legs were wrapped around a warm, breathing human body, and that definitely was not the usual situation in my own dorm room.

All things considered, I liked staying at Oishi's a lot more.

The scent that always made me think of everything good in my life surrounded me and I breathed it in happily, gratefully. I could feel every breath he took in my arms, warm and calm and alive. I'd known how much I missed him. For the first month or so after he left for Kyoto, I'd felt like a ghost, not wholly there any more, and the only time I didn't ache was when we talked on the phone. I'd gotten used to not always having Oishi there with me, but that didn't mean I didn't miss him, and I was so happy to be there lying beside him at that moment that I couldn't imagine how I'd ever gotten used to his absence.

_I love this man so much_, I thought with a grin. I could really be a sap sometimes. _I am never going to let him go._

I tightened my arms around Oishi, closed my eyes, and savored the moment.

Unfortunately, though, no matter what I was thinking, I did have to let go at least for a bit. And I hated to do it, but I couldn't climb over Oishi without waking him up anyway, and I needed to get out of bed sometime. "Hooooii," I muttered softly in his ear. "Nya, Syuichirou, you're being so lazy today."

I couldn't see his face, but I knew exactly how Oishi would be wrinkling his nose as he started to wake up. I'd told him about it once and he'd immediately gone bright red and begged me to not talk about it to anyone else. It was too funny for me to want to explain that I'd noticed it long before we started going out. And, well, I was still a little bit embarrassed to let him know exactly how long I'd been in love with him before I told him.

"Mmph…" Oishi turned over onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow. Inside, I cracked up completely. He was still more of a morning person than I was, but it always made me laugh to think about how much harder it was to wake him up than me. With a grin I jabbed my finger into the small of his back and kept poking him until he turned over onto his back with an annoyed mutter.

I leaned over and brushed my lips over his eagerly. "Well, if you're just going to lie there doing nothing…"

One bleary brown eye opened and met mine. "Please tell me that _was_ your finger earlier?"

I just grinned and didn't answer. "Come on, get up. You're blocking the way out of bed."

"I like it here in bed," Oishi muttered pitifully, but he crawled out from under the covers and out of bed. The minute I was up, he dropped back onto the edge of the bed and stared across the room blinking sleepily without moving. I bent over to lean into his face and wiggled my fingers in front of his eyes.

"Be right back, okay?''

"…Hmmm? Mmm."

I managed not to laugh until I was outside of the room.

After a quick bathroom stop and a pause to wash the last of sleep away with cold water, I let my mind wander as I brushed my teeth. After about seconds my mind went wandering. Oishi hadn't gone to sleep easily last night. As the night went on, he seemed to be more and more anxious about his roommate walking in on us. He wouldn't tell me why he was worried, but I still knew. I'd somehow gotten him to relax and let it drop, thankfully (I'd been more humiliated by that than I wanted to let on and did _not_ like reliving it over and over again!), but I hoped that would last once he woke up all the way and remembered everything again.

"Well," I thought aloud, "it's too early to think, anyway. Maybe when it's not the crack of ten."

Someone walked into the bathroom right then and stared at me like I was crazy. I just picked up my things and flashed him a friendly, freshly-brushed smile. "Morning!"

The other boy just raised his eyebrows and watched me warily as I bounced out the door again. I guess he wasn't fully awake yet, either.

When I got back to Oishi's room, his back was to the door as he shrugged into a clean shirt. I closed the door as quietly as I could, tiptoed across the floor, and rested my chin lightly on his shoulder when I was finally close enough to touch him. "What's the plan for today, hmm?"

Oishi's brow creased in thought. "It…depends. I don't know if my original idea is still a good one, and the other ones all needed advance planning, so I'm not sure any more."

"Reeeeally?" I rolled around so that my back was pressed against his and I was looking up at him upside down from his shoulder. "Well," I added as I reached back and caught his hands in mine, "I can think of a few things we could do."

Instead of laughing or squeezing my fingers back like I expected, Oishi pulled his hands away and turned to face me properly. His expression was troubled. "Eiji, you know I've missed you, right? All of you, not just…" He gestures awkwardly, his ears going faintly pink. "I didn't just bring you here for sex."

A thousand responses ran through my head, most of which I probably would have blurted out in front of anyone else even though they probably weren't the best ideas (_I did_ and _Why not_? were the most tempting). But this was Oishi, not somebody else, so instead the right words just popped out of my mouth from nowhere. "Nya, I _know_ that already, Syuichirou! Did you think I didn't?"

Oishi shrugged and his gaze drifted off to somewhere over my shoulder. He wasn't avoiding me, though. He was just thinking. Maybe someone else might have been worried that he didn't look them in the eye, but I knew how to read my other half without even having to think about it. "I just wanted to make sure. My roommate…"

_Okay, that's enough thinking for now_. I reached out and grabbed Oishi's chin so that he had to look back into my eyes. "Hey." I studied him closely for a moment. "Did I already try saying something about your roommate being a guy, too?"

Oishi's eyes widened in surprise. "Ah, no, I don't think…"

"Okay, good. I couldn't remember." Pleased with myself, I crossed my arms firmly. "So I'm guessing he probably has sex, too. In fact," I added, "since his girlfriend goes here, too, he probably has less self-control than we do…"

"_Eiji!"_

My friend looked so mortified that I couldn't help but laugh. "You brought it up!"

Oishi buried his face in his hands and shook his head. "Yeah, but…was that really…that's not something I want to think about!"

"And I'm guessing he didn't want pictures of me naked on the floor stuck in his head, either," I pointed out, "Seriously, don't you think he would have freaked out a lot more if he were mad at you?"

"Probably," he admitted. "But still…"

"No," I interrupted, "no still. There is a slight chance the same thing might have happened to you if he'd asked you to stay somewhere else while his girlfriend visited. So stop worrying and stop feeling like you have to justify your actions to me when I _know_ you love me anyway, and stop thinking so much, please?" As Oishi's expression wavered uncertainly, I sent him a nervous smile. "It's a new day, now, right? Can we just pretend it didn't happen for a little while? I'm actually really embarrassed about the whole thing and I'd kind of like to stop talking about it…"

That seemed to finally get through to him, and Oishi finally relaxed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Nothing ever embarrasses you."

"Well, fine then," I shot back. "Next time you can be the one who gets walked in on without any pants on, and see how you like it!"

"No thanks. You look better like that than I do," he teased lightly.

I punched him in the shoulder, and when he just laughed I tackled him and sent him sprawling to the floor. "Jerk! We'll just see about that!"

Oishi smirked. "It's true, though."

I pinned his wrists to the floor above his head. "Wanna bet?"

* * *

"I win."

Oishi lifted his head up for a moment and stared at me in confusion. "What?"

"I win," I repeated as I pushed myself up from the floor with my elbows. "Hey, how come you have more muscles than me when you don't play tennis anymore?"

"You did not win," he protested. "You have nicer legs than I do. _Because_ you still play tennis."

"I'm your guest. You have to let me win. It's a rule."

"I think you're making that up. I want to see this rule book you're using."

"Sorry. I lent it to your roommate."

"You've never met him except for last night."

"That's what you think. We've been plotting the downfall of the Kyoudai science department for months. My job was to keep you too busy to notice." I let myself fall back to the floor and snuggled into the crook of Oishi's arm. "And now it's too late. Mission accomplished. So, do you have any other plans for today?"

"This was your idea," he pointed out pragmatically. "Remember?"

I pretended to think about it for a moment. "Nope. Don't remember a thing. You erased my brain."

"Flatterer."

"Hey, flattery usually gets me what I want," I replied cheerfully.

"Does it?" Oishi shifted his arm so that his hand rested on my head, and he twirled a piece of my bangs around one finger without seeming to think about it. "What exactly do you want right now, then?"

I shrugged. "Lots of things. Maguro…unago…more of those yummy little Chinese cakes we got at that bakery yesterday…a way to make Tezuka runs laps just to see how he likes it…free tickets to Odaiba for a year…maybe a puppy…"

Oishi snickered. "What about a trip to a ninja museum?"

I sat up and broke into a huge grin. "Wait, seriously?" The smile I got in response was enough of an answer for me. I leapt to my feet and let out a cheer. "Okay, yeah! I want that!"

My partner watched me in amusement for a moment, and then laughed as I grabbed his arm to try and tug him to his feet. "Eiji, it's not in Kyoto. We have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest."

A pang of uncertainty ran through me without warning, and I made myself push it away without thinking. "Well, then, let's do something to pass the time," I replied decisively. "Time goes by faster if we're busy. What else is there to do that's actually in Kyoto?"

Oishi just stared at me in utter disbelief. "…Eiji," he managed at last, "it's Golden Week."

I ducked my head, abashed, and offered him an embarrassed smile. "Well, yeah…but you probably get to go to big festivals all the time now that you live here…"

"No more than you probably do," he pointed out. "Besides, this is my first Golden Week here, too, so I haven't been to these, yet."

It was strange…I suddenly felt nervous about the idea of going out with Oishi. There was no reason for it, but my stomach still jumped and fluttered uncertainly. "You're sure it won't be boring for you?"

I hadn't thought Oishi could look any more disbelieving, but for a second he pulled it off, right before he cracked up. "I don't think that's possible," he managed between laughs. "You're entertainment enough, Eiji. Remember when we went to the Fire Festival in junior high, and you kept running back to the fortune booth in between everything else because you wanted to be sure that you had the best fortune you could get? Or," he choked, "when you finally told me that the reason you were so insistent at the goldfish game was because you wanted to see what I saw in them?"

I smiled back hesitantly, but that nervous, slightly ashamed feeling wasn't going away. "Well, I couldn't keep fancy fish like yours. I might kill them."

Oishi just shook his head in amusement. "Probably. It was still funny. You always have so much fun at those celebrations. You're like a big kid. It'll be plenty of fun with you around! You can get cotton candy, and try and collect those water balloons that you always end up popping before we even leave…"

Oishi kept going on about the fun things we could do if we went to one of the festivals in town, but I lost track of what he was saying. My stomach had flipped over, and I knew why I was nervous, and I didn't like it much.

It was kind of like how I'd felt last night, on the way to meet up with his friends from school. Oishi had moved on and his life was changing, even if he wasn't. But I suddenly felt like I hadn't changed at all. He was making new friends and finding new interests at Kyoudai while I was rooming with someone I'd been friends with since junior high, still hung out with the same people I'd known in junior high and high school, and still spent most of my time playing tennis instead of working on my degree or looking into other interests. And…wasn't that a bad thing? If Oishi was changing, shouldn't I be, too? Would he stop thinking that I was just playful and fun some day, and start thinking I was just childish instead?

If Oishi's life kept changing while mine stayed the same, wouldn't he change, too, and wouldn't I get left behind?

I chewed at my bottom lip thoughtfully and mentally slapped myself. I already knew that Oishi would still love me no matter what. And why in the world was I feeling jealous over all the changes in his life compared to mine anyway? If I were really worried, I'd just start moving on with my life myself. I could have done so already, but I hadn't. I stayed in Tokyo because I wanted to, and I liked the way things were going there just fine. How much stupider and more insecure could I be?

I continued trying to decide whether I should be worried or annoyed with myself, and suddenly realized that Oishi had stopped laughing. I looked up sheepish to meet his gaze, and before I could apologize for blanking out there, his brow creased in concern.

"You…do still like doing those things…don't you?" he asked hesitantly. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I just remembered and thought that maybe you'd like that, that's all…"

As I stared at him blankly, he trailed off and studied me with a confused expression on his face. "What?"

"Hey," I asked slowly as the realization dawned on me, "Syuichirou? You haven't been worried that you wouldn't know me any more, have you?" I tilted my head to study him more carefully. "Were you scared that things would be different between us after being apart like this?"

Oishi's ears went a shade of red that I'd be jealous of under normal circumstances, but his voice was strong and almost defensive. "Yes. Why?"

I couldn't help it. I was just so _relieved_ all of a sudden. A slow grin started spreading across my face until my cheeks hurt from it. "That's great!" I cried happily, and let out a small whoop of joy. Oishi's expression went from embarrassed to completely lost, and I hurried to drape an arm over his shoulders while I explained. "I've been worrying about the same thing," I admitted hastily. "I thought I was the only one!"

Immediately, the confusion lifted and Oishi's gaze softened and made my chest ache with emotion. "No," he replied simply. "You aren't."

I shook my head in disbelief and rested it on top of the hand on his shoulder. "Okay. Good. Wow, we're both being really stupid this week, aren't we?"

Anyone else might have been offended or demanded an explanation for that remark, but Oishi had just the right response. It made me want to climb up on a roof and scream how perfectly we fit together. "Yeah. We really are. So what do we do about it?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? How about we just promise not to think about this at all for the rest of today and tomorrow, and see what happens?"

"Sounds good to me. I can't think of anything better anyway."

"Really? Ooo, I can't wait to tell Fuji! He always said _you_ were the smart one."

Oishi's brow creased again and he winced. "I think that was a compliment. Maybe. I can't tell with Fuji."

"That's okay," I replied as I straightened back up and stretched my arms up over my head, reveling in sensation. My whole body felt so light now. I hadn't felt so good since before Oishi had accepted his enrollment at Kyoudai, not even when I first saw him at the train station yesterday. "I just want you for your body, anyway. I can be the smart one now."

"There are several things wrong with that statement," Oishi mused with mock levity. "Can I ask how you're even finishing your homework without me there hounding you?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You're just jealous that you aren't the eye candy." As Oishi shook his head at me with an expression of disbelief on his face, I bounced around to drape myself over his back. This time, when I snatched up his hands into mine, he didn't pull away, and I decided we could just stay like that all the rest of the week and I'd be more than happy.


	5. Chapter Five: All the Way Down

_Author's Note: Just for future reference, guys…I don't go long times without updating unless I have a good reason. Also, I said I would be trying to update this _monthly_…which means if I go a month and a half without updating, as I just did, please don't start asking if I've given up the story. Life just happens sometimes. Like this time, I had planned on updating in April once the spring convention craziness ended, but then I found out that my father has cancer. It kills inspiration a bit. So needless to say, spending time with my father while he was sick and worn down and miserable from all the CAT scans and bone marrow biopsies and nasty medical stuff he had to undergo took priority in my life. And it will continue to do so. I'm sorry if that means you will have to wait a little bit longer for updates once in a while, but spending time with my father is going to take precedence over fic writing for now. My family is more important to me than fandom._

_So please, if I miss an update by a couple of weeks or so, please don't contact me demanding an update or accusing me of abandoning those of you who enjoy this fic. I'll have a good reason for missing updates, unless for some reason you consider a dying family member to not be a good reason, so just be patient if you can, please. That said, I AM still going to try to shoot for monthly updates with this. I can't guarantee anything, but I will do my best. This time it's Oishi's turn…enjoy!_

**Chapter Five: All the Way Down**

_Take this sinking boat and point it home  
__We've still got time  
__Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice  
__You make it now  
_-"Falling Slowly," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

There was something about Eiji in a yukata that was far more fitting than it had any right to be. It was enough to make me feel guilty about staring at him so much in public.

Although I wasn't the only one, so maybe I shouldn't have felt guilty at all.

"Isn't in convenient that we're almost the same size?" Eiji asked as he looked over his shoulder at me and flashed me a blinding smile. "What's the fun in going to festivals if we can't dress up?"

"You do realize that kimonos are intentionally made to fit everyone?" I pointed out, and wondered how Eiji's eyes could be so much bluer than the water on the sleeves of his borrowed clothes.

"Well, yeah, but…you're missing the point," he shot back with a frown.

"I'm sorry. What was the point?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Eiji shrugged sheepishly. "Can't remember now. You made me forget."

"Logic has no place within these walls," I intoned solemnly. "Luckily, we're outside right now."

With a snort, Eiji tossed his head and pointedly turned away from me. Two second later, he let out a shout and took off running towards the temple. _"Syuichirou!_ They have the water balloons!"

"I told you they would," I called back, but by then Eiji was too busy pushing his way to the front of the small crowd at the booth to hear me. It was just as well. I had a feeling that my voice gave away exactly what the sight of my former doubles partner running in that outfit did to me.

I was pretty much positive that the ancient Japanese designer who had created kimonos hadn't intended for them to be so attractive on anyone. Eiji probably would have vexed him to no end.

As I stared after Eiji and tried to decide whether to be amused or annoyed at how much more flattering my yukata was on him, a familiar voice called out from behind me. "Ah! Oishi? Is that you?"

I turned around and smiled as Uchida hurried up the stairs toward me, strands of hair escaping her bun in the humidity. "Uchida! Are you here alone?"

My quiet classmate shook her head quickly. "I'm meeting up with Nishida and some other friends here later. I think Kakashi and Itou are here with some girls from class, too." As she caught her breath, Uchida peered past me curiously. "Is that your friend up there?"

It would have been hard to miss Eiji at that point even if she hadn't met him the previous night. He towered over the kids pushing past him as he bounced away from the booth, swinging a brightly colored water balloon over his head that was exactly the same color as his hair and the fish leaping over the yukata. Had he done that on purpose? You could never tell for sure with Eiji. The effect was impressive, though, that was for sure.

"That's yours, isn't it?" Uchida asked as she studied him with an amused smile. "He looks very handsome, doesn't he?"

I nodded without thinking. "Eiji always looks cool."

"Really?"

Eiji finally managed to extract himself from the crowd and came running back down the stairs towards me. "Hey, Syuichirou, check it out! They had one that matched my outfit!"

Well, that answered that question. Before I could say anything, though, Uchida looked up at me curiously. "Syuichirou?"

"Ah!" Eiji halted suddenly and his grin widened. "Uchida-dono! Hi!" He looked over at me with mock chagrin. "You didn't tell me she got prettier. How come Kyoto has all the good girls?"

Uchida colored prettily at that, but she laughed. "You can just stop that right now. I have two brothers, so you can't possibly tease me more than they can."

Eiji held out his hands in defeat, and immediately was re-captivated by the balloon hanging off of his finger. "You win, then. Hey, Oishi, isn't this one pretty? It's too bad I can't take it back to Bunkyo. It'd just break in my bag."

I watched him bounce the balloon at the end of its rubber band, and replied, "I'm not sure it'll last past this festival."

"Well, fine, then. I won't get you one. _Or_ any new fish."

"I don't even know if you could catch one," I teased right back.

Eiji's face set into an expression I recognized all to well with a pang of nostalgia, and he turned back towards the rest of the festival. "Watch me!"

Uchida studied us both as we followed him up the rest of the steps. "Does he normally call you by your first name, then?" she asked me quietly.

"Sometimes." Some alarm pinged in my mind, but I pushed it away. Uchida was one of the sweetest girls I knew, so what was there to worry about? "He switches back around company to keep from confusing everyone else, I think."

Uchida's lips pursed in thought. "Wouldn't that just make everything more confusing?"

"Eiji doesn't think so. You shouldn't try to figure him out yet, Uchida, it'll just give you a headache."

"And it doesn't you?"

"Well," I replied as a warm feeling spread through me, "I've had years of practice."

Eiji stopped and turned to face us with his hands on his hips. "Ooooiiii! Quit gossiping about me and let's get going! I smell food, don't you two want some?"

"Didn't you forget to bring your floss?" I called back.

A second later Uchida dissolved into laughter as Eiji's water balloon burst over my head.

* * *

Apparently Nishida's interest in me did not extend to dripping hair and wet clothing because when she finally met up with the three of us, she suddenly remembered that she had to meet up with several other friends other than us. Uchida's shoulders shook with the effort of trying to hold in her laughter but she simply declined the offer to join Nishida and said she would keep up company and find her again later. The minute that our friend was out of hearing distance, Eiji sent me a knowing look and promptly cracked up.

As Uchida hid her own smile behind her hands, I shook my head. "You both are a lot meaner than you look."

"Am I?" Uchida asked with perfect innocence. Eiji made an attempt to match her angelic expression and ended up sending himself into fits of laughter again instead.

I had to smile. I was just as amused by Nishida's behavior as they were, after all. Plus Eiji was ridiculously adorable right then. That was reason enough for me to feel like smiling.

_I love it so much when you laugh._

The unspoken words caught and I had to swallow the lump that formed in my throat at the thought. Instead, I looked up at the purpling sky and shivered. "Okay, it's getting cooler out and you two aren't in wet fabric. Can we take a detour by the restrooms so I can at least try to dry off now?"

Eiji crossed his arms and smirked. Of course he felt smug. His revenge had worked out perfectly. "Oh? And how exactly are we going to dry you off, hmm?"

It turned out by having me strip down in one of the stalls and wait while Eiji wrung out my yukata over the sink and tried to dry off the shoulders a little bit under the dryer. After about ten minutes of listening to Eiji snicker while constantly restarting the dryer, I risked opening the door to the stall a crack to peer out at him. "How much longer do you think we'll be?"

"Maybe five more minutes," he answered cheerfully. "It won't be completely dry, but it should be good enough. The weather is pretty nice out tonight."

"Should you tell Uchida how much longer she has to wait?"

Even with his back turned to me, I could tell Eiji was grinning mischievously. "I'm kind of busy. You could go tell her."

I snorted. "You could walk back to the dorms after I get arrested for indecent exposure."

"They'd never subject a pretty thing like you to jail. You wouldn't last five minutes."

"Would you wait for me?"

I expected him to respond with something like, "No way," but instead the tone of his voice softened a bit. "Absolutely. Stupid Syuichirou."

That lump of emotion shot back into my throat again and I couldn't speak. After a moment of awkward silence, Eiji tossed his head and added, "What do you think the next person to walk into this restroom will think when they see you?"

When I still couldn't find the words to answer, he turned and studied me curiously. "…Nyani?"

I shook my head in a desperate effort to clear it. When I finally spoke, my tongue felt heavy and thick and my voice probably wasn't entirely steady. "I should get dressed again."

"Okay, okay, hang on. Just another five minutes-"

"Eiji," I repeated, "Uchida will send someone in after us if we keep her waiting for too long, and if I keep watching you without…well, we will definitely be in here longer than five minutes. Can I have my yukata back, please?"

Eiji's eyes widened momentarily and then darkened with a look I knew far too well that sent my own blood pounding in my ears again. He rolled his shoulders in a slow shrug and held the damp garment out to me carefully. "Right. Do you, um, need any help?"

_Yes. Come in here and give me a hand._ I wanted to just reach out and catch his wrist and yank him into the stall and…it was really not the time or place. We'd probably end up with typhoid or something with the state of public restrooms during festivals. I took back my clothing with a regretful shake of my head. "Thanks, though."

"No problem. I'll go keep Uchida company," Eiji answered with a hint of regret as he turned to leave.

"Don't take too long," he added over his shoulder.

"I won't. Thanks."

It took my longer than I thought to get everything back on properly with the way my hands were still shaking. As I tried to make them still again so I could finish the final tie without somehow knotting it around my own wrist, I marveled at exactly how intense that moment of longing and love had been. Maybe there was something in the water, or in the air, or maybe…probably…it was just the way that Eiji looked that night, bright and vibrant and colorful and vivid. It wasn't even how good he looked in my kimono or the freshness of it being only our second day together in ages. There was just something about seeing him with Uchida, the way he had looked halfway bent over by the hand dryer, and when he looked back up at me with my outfit carefully held in his hands. It was like it had hit me for the first time just how much older he had grown, we had both grown…how long we'd been together. How long we'd known each other. How long I'd really loved him.

The door creaked as someone stepped into the facilities and I heard Eiji call out. "Nya, Oishi, hurry up! The fireworks are starting soon and Uchida and Kakashi say they know a great spot to watch them from!"

"Kakashi's there now?" I asked in surprise as I stepped out of the stall. "When did that happen?"

Eiji rolled and grinned at me. "Earlier. I don't know, I was in here with you. Come on, let's go!"

I tried to shake off the immense feeling that still swamped me for a moment and followed him out the door. It didn't work. I wondered if it was even possible to get it to go away. I had a not entirely unpleasant suspicion that it wasn't.

Kakashi was indeed outside with Uchida, along with a few of our other classmates; my sometimes seatmate Shidou and his girlfriend Omori, and a girl I knew only vaguely called Moriya who was Kakashi's lab partner. After a quick round of introductions and excited chattering at my childhood friend that was almost identical to the dinner last night, we set off on our way to what Kakashi and Uchida both assured us was the perfect place to watch the fireworks.

Eiji and I lagged a little bit behind them, all but silent while the others chattered on. I ran my fingers over the fabric around the back of my neck to make sure everything was on straight and found myself staring at the ends of my sleeves and seeing how easily those imaginary signals and yes's and no's and later's had passed between us when he handed it back to me. My eyes drifted up to trace over the back of Eiji's neck, over his profile, and came to rest on his eyes, staring straight ahead and bright with his smile as he listened to my friends tossing stories back and forth between each other. He didn't seem to know I was watching him. I couldn't look away.

I suddenly realized that more matter how much older we both grew or how much we changed, I could see him beside me like this for the rest of my life. And I couldn't even imagine it without him there.

Eiji's lips parted in wonder and he let out and awed breath. "Wow…this is the perfect spot!"

I tore my gaze away from him and realized we were standing at the base of a small hill on the other side of the temple arcade, with the rest of the festival lights behind us and nothing obstructing our view of the sky. It really was the perfect spot, especially with the faint sounds of the festival still audible behind us, comforting and exciting at the same time. Kakashi noticed my expression and grinned in triumph. "Great, isn't it?"

"Bravo," I answered sincerely. "I always go to higher places to watch these things and it's so crowded there."

"You can see the sky from anywhere. It doesn't matter how high up you are."

"Stop bragging," Uchida chided gently. "It's a lovely place. They all know it now."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that found it."

"After I showed it to you, remember?"

As my two classmates argued good naturedly and the others egged them on, I noticed Eiji slip away quietly through the bushes a bit off to the side. Curious, I waited to be certain that no one noticed me following him and made my way after him.

Eiji looked up and seemed surprised to see me behind him. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Seeing what you're up to," I told him honestly. "What _are_ you doing?"

"The fireworks don't start for a few minutes," he answered. "That Moriya girl says there's a koi pond through those trees, so I thought I'd see it before the show starts."

There was a koi pond nearby. I remembered it. "I'll come, too. I know where it is."

Eiji didn't protest, and in the darkness I imagined that he looked completely happy at my words.

It didn't take long at all to reach the pond. It was maybe the distance of a large house away from the bottom of the knoll where my friends had brought us. When we pushed through the branches of the willow trees flanking one side of the pond, Eiji let out a small gasp. "Oh, cool…"

I wasn't much more articulate. "Yeah. Wow."

It was like all of the fireflies in the entire temple park had congregated in one spot. Maybe they had, just to get away from all of the people and be safe. Countless little lights floated in the air around us, reflecting off the surface of the pond so that it looked like the fireflies flew beneath the water as well as above, darting between the branches of the willows like magic mysteries, and bathing the entire pond in an eerie green-gold light. When Eiji turned to me with an expression of pure awe, the light from the fireflies glittered far back in his eyes and I wondered if it was really the lights or if some of the stars had fallen out of the sky and ended up inside of him.

"This is the perfect spot," Eiji told me with absolute certainty. "That other place is perfect for watching fireworks, but this is just perfect, period."

I nodded in complete agreement. "It's absolutely beautiful."

Eiji's lips curved up in a small smile and caught my face in his hands and laid a gentle kiss on my lips. "Mmmmhmmm. Let's live here."

I laughed and leaned in to kiss him back.

The minute our lips touched, I could feel that heat blossom between us again, urgent and demanding. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to give in to that momentary lust…from the way that Eiji's breath shuddered in I knew he probably wanted the same thing. But it was strange…almost as soon as it hit me, it was gone. All I could think was that I wanted everything to stay exactly like this forever. Not just this moment, either. All of them. The expression on his face when I first told him I loved him back, the feeling of his hand entwined in my while we sat under a tree at lunch, the moment we first kissed in the back of a movie theater, the way his arms felt wrapped around mine after we got in the results of our high school entrance exams, the feeling of our bodies against each other the first time we took the next step, the fierceness in his eyes when I realized he missed being with me as much as I missed being with him, the two of us curved together in the same sleeping bag under the stars on a camping trip in Hakone, the sound of his voice when he came barreling out of the subway to meet me yesterday, this moment right now, the first time he smiled at me and just me…they were all one and the same moment, and I wanted every moment to be just like that for as long as I lived.

I rested my hand on his neck and lost myself in the simple kiss a little bit longer. When Eiji pulled away and pressed his cheek against mine, I let my eyes close and felt the warmth radiating from his skin. "I love you, Eiji. I really do."

For a moment, he didn't say anything, and I wondered if I should be worried about that or not. But then… "Me, too," he murmured against my ear. "I've loved you for a very long time."

I smiled at his response. "Perfect."

"Absolutely perfect," he agreed.

"Would you mind staying in love with me for an even longer time?"

"Well, until your little sister is legal, anyway."

I snorted at the absurd reply and Eiji shook his head so that his hair brushed over my closed eyes.

"I already told you. Absolutely. You don't even have to ask me to."


	6. Chapter Six: In Everything I Do

_Author's Note: New chapter, yay! Let's hope I can keep this on schedule through the summer, since next week I start up a major performance internship that will have me in rehearsals 35 hours a week plus the four I work at my job and dress rehearsals in August, so it's possible that I might have to miss August's update. I should be all right with July, though. Keep your fingers crossed! And as usual, happy reading! This time it's Eiji's turn. Yatta nya!_

**Chapter Six: In Everything I Do**

_But there's a spark in your smile and your smile's in my mind  
__And I know that everything will be fine 'cause,  
__Somehow, you're with me all the time  
_-"Higher Ground," Lisa Furukawa

"Would it be impolite to ask how long you and Oishi have been dating?"

I suppose the question should have startled me, but for some reason it didn't surprise me at all. Maybe because it was because of who was asking the question. I raised an eyebrow at Uchida curiously. "Wow, are we really that obvious?"

Uchida blushed a little bit at that but managed a sheepish smile. "A little bit. It's probably just because I'm more sensitive to those sorts of things."

"What things?"

The small young woman looked ahead of us for a moment, falling silent as she watched the rest of the group interact. It was actually pretty interesting and I found myself getting distracted as well. The other couple of the night, whose names I had definitely already forgotten, were practically absorbed with each other…or they were trying to be, anyway, and mostly failing because Kakashi kept harassing them and teasing them mercilessly. At some point after the fireworks ended, we'd run into Nishida, Itou, and two other girls on their way out for something to drink, and now Nishida and the guy who I thought might have been named Moriya or Miyama or something like that were arguing with each other about some class assignment while the other two girls giggled and whispered with each other about something of obviously great import. And as for the focus of _my_ attention, he and Itou were having an intense conversation that I could only guess based on the few words I could catch had something to do with protein and acid.

Were there acidic proteins? I'd always thought it was only fruits that were acidic.

Thankfully, before I could actually say anything about this mystery, Uchida's quiet voice interrupted my thoughts. "Well, to begin with, every single time Oishi has looked at you tonight, his eyes just…" She gestured futilely and shook her head. "I don't know how to say it, but I'm sure you've noticed it, right?"

I thought of the gleam in his eyes earlier than night in the restroom and had to work to keep my grin fairly innocent. Uchida wasn't my sisters, after all. "I guess, yeah."

"He's completely gone for you."

This time I could look her in the eye without any guilt at all when I smiled. "I know."

Uchida's smile blossomed and it hit me that she was really incredibly pretty. "Good. I thought so, but…good." She folded her hands into her sleeves and looked at the others again, still smiling. "Now, should I ask what happened in the restroom earlier when you both looked so flustered?"

My mouth dropped open and I gaped at her in shock, frozen in place. Uchida actually went on walking for a few more steps before she noticed I wasn't next to her anymore. She turned and laughed at my expression, daintily, with one hand covering her mouth just the tiniest bit.

The fact that she giggled like an anime schoolgirl just made it even harder to believe what I'd just heard pop out of her mouth.

When I thought my eyes would fall out of my skull if I goggled any harder, she reached forward and tugged at one of my sleeves so that I followed her automatically. "It was only a question, Kikumaru. Oh, you should have seen your face!"

I managed to yank my tongue back from where it had gotten stuck when I swallowed it. "Please don't tell me that you're going to be-"

"Hardly!" Uchida cried. "It was just simple curiosity. You were bright red when you came out to join Kakashi and I. It was a simple assumption to make." She studied me for a moment and then added, "And you were calling him Syuichirou earlier. If subtle is what you are going for, you really ought to be more consistent with that. It's a very obvious tell."

I shook my head, more to clear it of the sound of my sister's shrill voice shrieking with fangirlish glee in my memory than in response to anything Uchida had said. "Subtle isn't really a worry for me. I don't know if it is for Oishi or not, but I think we're both just used to everyone already knowing. It only took about a month before the rest of the tennis regulars figured it out when we first started…well, dating."

"Which team?"

"Junior high."

Uchida's face cleared suddenly. "So you _are_ the girlfriend then!"

I shrugged again and tried to hide the flush of heat to my face. "Like I said, everyone at home sort of knew already."

Uchida giggled again. "Kikumaru, if you don't mind my saying so, if you went to school here as well, so would everyone in Kyoto as well. It's not even the name or the restrooms or even you two sneaking off in the middle of the fireworks alone together. I told you, it's the way that Oishi looks at you. It's like you're the only person in the entire world."

* * *

It was funny…even after we'd all gone out for snacks and drinks, made our way back home for the night, and everyone else including Oishi was sound asleep, Uchida's words stuck with me. It wasn't in the way I had expected, either.

After what seemed like forever, I shifted in the bed so I could shake Oishi's shoulders. "Syuichirou. Hey, Syuichirou?"

"Grunf." At least that's what it sounded like he said.

I leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Are you awake?"

"No."

_Good enough_. I didn't really want him to wake up all the way anyway. He looked so pretty, still and silent and sleeping in the faint blue glow of the moonlight in the window. But I had to ask. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"I'm sleeping, Eiji."

"Not that, pervert." My lips curved into a smile against his ear. "I just wondered if I could choose what we do tomorrow."

"What?"

Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. But Uchida's words just kept coming back to me and the urge was irresistible. "If you don't already have plans for us tomorrow, I want to pick what we do."

Oishi shifted minutely to blink up at me. "Oh. Sure, go ahead. What did you want to do?"

The light from outside turned half of his face a pale blue, almost like a spirit or something equally unreal, but his eyes were so warm even mazed by sleep that I had to smile again before I light brushed my lips over his forehead. "It's okay. I'll tell you in the morning."

Oishi's eyes fluttered closed again and he sank deeper into the mattress again. "Oh. Okay," he answered, his voice already slurred as he let himself drift away from wakefulness again.

I watched as his chest moved with his breathing, until it slowed into the deep, mellow rhythm of sleep. "Okay," I whispered back at last without meaning to, and then repeated it again with more confidence.

"Okay. In the morning."

* * *

The sound of Oishi locking the door to his room woke me up out of a sound sleep. I sat up and stared at him for a moment while he made an apologetic face and went back to rummaging through his clothes, and suddenly realized the flaws in my plan.

"Oh, _dammit!"_

Oishi spun around so quickly he almost fell. "What? What happened?"

I ignored him and concentrated on beating the stupid out of my own head instead. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, why am I such an idiot sometimes?"

My friend looked seriously concerned now and leaned over to grab my wrists and stop me from pounding my fists against my forehead. "Whoa, whoa! When did anyone say you're an idiot?"

"No one," I grumbled in annoyance. "Doesn't make it any less true, though. I'm the biggest idiot on the face of the entire planet. How stupid can I get?!"

Okay, so I was definitely overreacting. Right then, I didn't care. I'd really been looking forward to that day…my plans had even invaded my dreams the previous night. And somehow I had missed out on a few crucial pieces of the puzzle.

_How did I even land that sport scholarship if I can't even remember what equipment I'm supposed to use?_

Oishi carefully pushed my hands down into my lap and made his way over to sit on the edge of the bed beside me. "Okay, Eiji, you mind telling me what exactly is going on? Because I have absolutely no idea what you are going on about right now."

With some effort I managed to actually meet his eyes. This was so embarrassing. Even the entire idea seemed stupid by the light of day. "I don't have my good sneakers with me. Or my racquet. Or _any_ of my tennis stuff!"

The look of confusion only deepened on Oishi's face. "Well, you are on vacation right now…I'm sure your coach doesn't mind if you miss a few days of-"

"That's not it!" I interrupted, feeling more embarrassed by the minute. "I was going to…I thought today we could find one of the local courts and play a few games, and I didn't even think about the fact that I have nothing here I'd need to do that!"

"You wanted to…" Oishi stopped, looked down at his hands, and then looked up at the ceiling. Obviously he didn't find any explanation in either of those places because he just put a hand to his temple and frowned in thought. "That's what you wanted to do today?"

Well, great, now I felt _really_ stupid. "Yeah," I muttered without looking at him. "I thought it might be…um, fun, I think."

"Well of course it would be fun, but that doesn't explain why you had to wake me up in the middle of the night, or why you're literally beating yourself up now!"

I groaned and flopped over onto the covers in exasperation. "Well, it should!" I complained, and closed my eyes until my face felt less like a volcano.

We stayed there like that in silence for a long while before Oishi spoke again, and when he did it wasn't at all what I had expected. "How do you fold yourself in half like that?"

"I had my ribcage removed surgically," I shot back without lifting my head. "And I have a double-jointed spine. And no internal organs. I have no idea, I just can!"

Other than a short laugh, there was no reply. Oishi just sat there, only moving to breathe, and didn't make a sound. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"I miss playing with you," I managed through the blankets and my legs and arms around my head. "Uchida said something last night and it just made me remember something. That match with Hyoutei in our third year?"

"When I sprained my wrist?"

I nodded, or tried to. It wasn't very easy to do when I had my face pressed into my own knees. "Yeah, that one. I was so messed up, you remember. And then you showed up and everything was better." I turned my head so I could actually look at him again, though I didn't sit up yet. It was too much fun seeing him wince at my position. "And then everyone was cracking jokes about it being a doubles game with three?"

Now Oishi really did wince away. "Thanks for that embarrassing reminder. I'd forgotten about that."

"It wasn't embarrassing, so don't even try to pull that. Anyway, it wasn't true. It wasn't even a doubles game. I just…" I struggled to find the right words. It wasn't that I was worried about what to say or how Oishi would react, I just wasn't sure I knew how to say it. "Did you know that you, what was it? You look at me like I'm the only person in the world?"

"I do?" Instead of being embarrassed or even flattered, Oishi just frowned in thought and then nodded. "I guess I could see that. You're usually the center of my attention even when you aren't here."

My stomach fluttered at bit at that and I managed a faint smile. "Good for me."

"It's a good thing you like the attention."

"I really do. But anyway, it's not just when you look at me, or when I look at you, or anything like…no, that's not right. I just miss playing tennis with you, doubles and singles both. I wanted to do that today because when you're on the court with me, there's no one else there. Not even in our matches against other people. There was that one game, but we…that was different," I explained. "You weren't yourself and I wasn't myself and I've just made this more complicated than it needed to be. Can I try again?"

"Please do," Oishi replied pitifully. "I'm completely lost."

"Okay." I told myself it was okay to steal Uchida's words. It wasn't like I wouldn't be putting them to good use. "Got it. When we're on the court together, there isn't anything or anyone else in the world but us."

I somehow managed to shrug without moving from my position flopped over my own legs. It was actually pretty comfortable. "So that's why I wanted to play today. Except I don't even have a racquet, much less the right shoes or anything. I don't even know if you have any of that stuff here, either. I know you don't really have much free time."

Oishi just stared at me with a faint line between his eyebrows. It was a little bit disconcerting. I knew he wasn't upset, but he did look thoughtful and sometimes he thought too much.

"Could you sit up?" he finally asked.

"But it's comfortable like this," I joked lightly. "You wouldn't ask me to go outside my comfort zone just because it weirds you out, would you?"

"In this case I would because I can't imagine that's comfortable even for contortionists, but that's not why I'm asking."

With a small sigh I pushed myself back up and studied him closely. "Okay. So what, then?"

The kiss was entirely a surprise. A pleasant surprise, but still unexpected. When he pulled away again and left me staring at him with a dopey confused grin on my face, Oishi smiled back. "That's the most flattering compliment anyone's ever given me. I was afraid when you kept playing in college that the Golden Pair was gone for good."

Now it was my turn to look incredulous. "No way! Are you nuts? That is never happening, not until the world implodes or the sun explodes and fries us all or whatever it is that makes the universe end!"

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" he teased and I shook my head as hard as I could.

"Nope. It's not too extreme because the Golden Pair is never going to be gone. So there."

Oishi cracked up, but I knew his response wasn't a joke at all. "Good. That's excellent." He reached out to ruffle my hair and I hissed at him as I pulled away. No one touches my hair in the morning before I get the tangles out. "In the meantime, you should get ready to head out. All the good things at the bakery next door will be gone if we don't get there before lunch."

I jumped out of bed obediently. "Yes, sir! I will try to come up with another plan for the day, sir!"

"Don't think too hard," Oishi advised calmly. "I know of a public court that rents racquets out for the day, and I bet some of my clothes fit you. The yukata did last night, anyway."

I wanted to cheer at that, but I kept most of the celebrating inside. "I thought you said those are one size fits all?"

"Go take your shower, Eiji."

I darted over to drop a quick, light kiss on his cheek. "Whatever the only other man in the world wants."


	7. Chapter Seven: What You Want of Me

_Author's Note: Wow, sorry about that…if I told you all how busy I've been…well, I'm always busy, but still. Long story short, the summer internship led to me having 60 hours weeks, then school started up two days before it was over, I got a second job which one girl quit like immediately so I ended up working 74 hour weeks between the two jobs and school, my senior recital was an unmitigated disaster (or trying to put it on was, the recital itself went fine once it HAPPENED), there were three deaths in my family in the space of two months, my mother landed in the hospital four times in that same time period, my dad had second cancer scare that thankfully wasn't anything big, and then there was NaNoWriMo 2008. Oh, and graduating. So yeah…once again, if I don't update, it's for a VERY good reason, so no matter how long a pause there is, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not tell me to update. From here on out, the only gap should be during the first half of January when I'll be attending the Presidential Inauguration in DC as an honored student, and other than that I shouldn't be working more than 36 hours a week, so…time will be had for writing!_

**Chapter Seven: What You Want of Me**

_And when I get that feeling  
__I can no longer slide  
__I can no longer run, oh no no no  
_-"Say What You Want," Texas

There was something about the way that Eiji moved on the tennis court that was almost magical.

Maybe it was the familiarity of it, realizing that this was one thing in our lives that had not changed with time just yet. Every little movement he made was familiar to me in some way, identical to everything I had memorized years and years ago as he developed his playing style. It was nostalgic and reassuring at the same time. The second he pulled the rental racquet out from its bag and flipped it around his wrist experimentally, it was like I was fifteen again, watching him from a distance and hoping that he wouldn't notice, longing for a way to tell him how much I was falling for him.

Maybe it was just admiration of a natural talent. I was good at tennis, probably better than Eiji all things considered, but I had to work at it. That was one of the reasons I hadn't really kept up with it when I left for the university. I could have, but the amount of work it would have taken for me to stay on the team would have seriously impacted my studies and it wasn't worth it. Eiji might not have been quite as good…at the very least he definitely wasn't nearly as disciplined…but he had a natural talent that he could and did coast on. If he had really worked at it, or more than he normally did, he could have easily been one of the best players in the country. Watching him move across the court even when we weren't playing was pure pleasure. He just made it look so easy.

Maybe it was the fact that watching him bend and stretch in all of those contortions he preferred just made my blood boil with desire. Or it could have been the tingle of anticipation that ran through me at the thought of playing with him again, partners in all ways, through all times.

Or maybe it was just the fact that it was Eiji.

That last one was probably the most likely.

My friend flipped his rented racquet up into the air and grinned as it twirled and dropped back down into his grip. "Yeah, this'll work great," he mused aloud before turning towards me with an expectant look on his face. "Are you coming?"

I actually wouldn't have minded watching him all day without doing a thing myself, but I have to admit, I was surprised by the sudden thrill of anticipation than ran through me at the prospect of a game. It wasn't like I didn't play with my friends in Kyoto when I got the chance, but Eiji was right. There was something special when we played together, even when we were technically playing against each other.

I wanted to see if things really had stayed as unchanging as that little display had made it seem.

With a wink, I strode over to the opposite side of the court and shifted back and forth on the balls of my feet, ready for whatever he threw at me. "Ready when you are."

The glint in Eiji's eyes was fiercely competitive and as he bounced on the balls of his feet, my stomach fluttered deliciously. Okay, so things had changed, at least a little bit. Back in junior high and high school, I hadn't found that look nearly as erotic as I did now.

Either that or I'd forgotten about it. But I couldn't really see how I'd forget _that_. Not with the way my whole body went hot and left me feeling like I needed to run a marathon right away or something to burn off all of the energy.

Eiji tossed the first of the tennis balls in the air with that focused light still in his eyes and finally threw it over the net towards me. As I caught it, he called out to me with a challenging smile, "You're out of practice, so you can have the advantage and serve first."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I shot back, matching his challenge effortlessly. "I was always ranked higher than you, remember?"

"Minor details." Eiji stopped his light bouncing for a moment and raised his eyebrows at me. "Syuuichiro, you wouldn't happen to be stalling, would you?"

That did it. He was definitely going down.

I edged back to the serve line, tossed the yellow tennis ball up high into the air until it almost disappeared in the glare of the sunlight, and readied myself.

The crack of my racquet connecting with the ball wasn't quite what I was used to with my own equipment, but the shock that ran up my arm was still familiar and pleasant. Even as it sailed over the net I was running up to the middle of the court, watching Eiji with eyes that already knew his every move. My partner was already on the move, a redheaded blur dashing across the ground to meet the ball. He returned it with a solid thwack mere seconds after it bounced off of the ground again, when it was just high enough off of the ground to be a safe bet. I didn't even pause when I marveled at the ease with which he read my moves. I could admire him at the same time as I hurried to the other side of the court to meet his every return.

It was amazing how quickly everything came back to me. It wasn't exactly the same as our old games against each other had been. For starters, Eiji really had gotten a lot better playing with the university team, probably because he had to keep up with the best of the best or lose his place at the school. Some of my moves were rusty as well, but I had still managed to pick up some new techniques playing with my friends, amateurs that they were, and I think I actually managed to surprise my former doubles partner a couple of times during the game. There were just enough moments that were new and unexpected for both of us to keep things interesting. What was really amazing to me was that even with those changes, we could still read each other so well.

It was like we didn't even have to think about what the other person was doing at all. We were that in synch with each other. Connected.

By the time our first set ended, I didn't even care about who was winning any more. I was too lost in the joy of playing with Eiji again.

Even if he _was_ thoroughly kicking my ass across the court and back again compared to how our old games used to go. Okay, fine, so maybe I still cared a little bit about winning. But even with all that had changed with the both of us, there were some things that had never changed.

I was in junior high again, hoping and praying that I would make the regulars team and playing to win against the little redheaded new kid that was trying to take my spot from me. I was fourteen and clasping hands with my doubles partner after winning a championship. I was fifteen and running across town in a panic, hoping against hope that Eiji was holding things together at the tournament that I was missing out on. I was standing outside of the Seigaku tennis club house at dusk, pressing my lips against Eiji's for the first time. I was in high school, taking title after title with him by my side. I was eighteen and wondering how I would ever be able to say goodbye to him when I left for Kyoto. I was two days ago, watching him come running out of the subway to throw his arms around me for the first time in months. I was now, right here, with him, like no time had ever passed and all time had passed all at the same time.

The yellow tennis ball thunked dully onto the ground just beyond my racquet and bounced off towards the foul line. On the other side of the net, Eiji threw his arms into the air and cheered. "Game, set, match, me!"

I let my arm fall to my side, racquet still clutched tightly in my hand, and made my way over to the net with my hand held out to take his. "Good game, Eiji."

He nodded, slightly breathless, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I almost did the same except that at least my hair wasn't dripping in my eyes like his was. "So," he asked happily, "am I better or am I the best?"

"Definitely better," I agreed. "When did you learn that backhand you used on the second game?"

"First week of training. Yoshiki-senpai taught me. He says he thinks I might be triple jointed or something."

I laughed and didn't let go of his hand just yet. I liked how it felt in mine too much. "Or quadruple jointed. I could have told him that."

"Yeah, but you were here." Eiji's eyes lost that sparkle that had lit them up for the entire day for just a second. Before I could say anything, though, he perked up again. "So, up for another match?"

I groaned and rolled my shoulders, feeling the soreness of a good workout after months of disuse already starting to set in. "You're going to kill me, Eiji."

Eiji just turned those big, depthless eyes on me and I couldn't help but grin again. "This time," I told him as I released his hand at last, "you serve."

* * *

Sometimes I thought that my boyfriend might be a robot. A very energetic robot. Or a garbage disposal.

I stared at him with only a little bit of disbelief as he tucked away his third salad without pausing except to talk to me. And even then, he still managed to swallow with amazing frequency. "Do you even have a human digestive tract?"

Eiji popped a piece of sunomono into his mouth and swallowed without even bothering to chew. "I'm not sure. You have to learn to eat a lot, living with Taka. I think I might have developed another stomach in another dimension to take up the slack."

I picked at my own salad thoughtfully. "How do you figure that works?"

"I have no idea. It just sounded good, you know?"

I shrugged and went back to my dinner. "That's good enough for me."

Eiji flicked a piece of radish across the table at me and we met each other's gazes long enough to grin at one another before going back to the food.

I had no idea about Eiji, but I was _starving_. I'd forgotten how much of a workout playing tennis with someone else as well-trained as I used to be was.

And of course my sobbing muscles were going to remind me of that fact for the rest of the week. I had no doubt about that.

_Some kinesiology major you are, Syuuichiro. You can't even judge what your own physical limits are!_

But still… "Hey," I began, "Eiji?"

"Mmph?" Eiji looked up with his mouth completely stuffed with the last few bites of his salad. "Nrf frmm nphmm?"

I had to struggle not to laugh as he tried to make any sense at all around the mouthful of lettuce. "You were right," I said instead. "Today was perfect."

Eiji blinked those big blue eyes at me once and he made a truly heroic effort to swallow. I waited patiently until he was able to speak without it sounding like he was talking through a wad of cotton. "Thanks?"

I smiled. "No, really. I didn't know how much I missed playing with you until today. It was a great idea."

Eiji's eyebrows shot up, but his expression was one of pure pleasure. "Any time. You know I'm always up for a challenge, nya!"

"Really?" My mind flashed back briefly to the way that his eyes had gleamed as we first stepped onto the court and my insides knotted up all over again. I focused on making sure that my breath came as normally as possible and fixed Eiji with what I hoped was a challenging gaze. "How much of a challenge are we talking, exactly?"

My friend seemed completely oblivious to my implications. "Hey," he replied with a grin, "I can take anything you can dish out, Syuuichiro, and you know it."

That did it. I took half a second to check and make sure that none of the other patrons were looking through the window at us, and then reached across the table and yanked Eiji over to me, kissing him once, hard and fast and desperate.

Eiji's eyes flew open completely and a sound of surprise came from him, muffled by my mouth covering his, before his lips curved beneath mine and he kissed me back. I held on until I had to break away to breathe, and this time when I met Eiji's eyes they were dark and sparkling with exactly the same desire vibrating through me. "Prove it," I told him with a triumphant grin. "I'm always up for a challenge, too."

Eiji looked around quickly and his own wry smile faded away suddenly. "I don't see anywhere to go," he muttered in disappointment.

"For what?"

He looked at me in surprise. "But…I thought…"

I crossed my arms and sat back, completely satisfied with myself. He might have won the tennis matches that afternoon, but I was definitely winning this game. "I said I was up for a challenge. I didn't say what it was."

Eiji didn't even bother to keep his voice down and it cracked when he cried out. "Hey, sex in public in the middle of Kyoto seems like a challenge to me!"

Feigning indifference, I shrugged and looked away as if I were bored with the conversation. "It's easier than you'd think."

"Oh, like you'd know!" Eiji drummed his hands angrily against the table. "Syuuichiroooooo! Quit teasing me already!"

I pretended to think about it for about three seconds. "Mmm, no. No, I think my challenge is going to stay the same."

The look that my boyfriend leveled at me could have melted the entire country of Greenland. I just continued to look around with fake nonchalance, enjoying the way he squirmed across the table from me with desperation. I wasn't usually that evil by nature, but that look in his eyes that afternoon had been so…_insanely_…hot…I couldn't help it. I wanted to see what would happen when that look of triumph came back into them.

"All right," he finally spat, still glaring at me with all of the heat that guileless face could muster. "What's the challenge?"

I let my gaze drift back to his and crossed my arms across my chest. "I was thinking about getting us reservations at an onsen a little ways away from here."

Eiji nodded slowly but his expression was filled with suspicion. "Okaaaay…and then…?"

"Well," I continued deliberately, "how does this sound. You're obviously anxious-"

"So are you!" he snapped. "Syuuichiro-"

I held up a hand to stop him and continued. "So the challenge is this: I try to keep my hands off of you and you do the same until midnight our first night there. We'll see who caves first."

Eiji's mouth dropped open in horror. "You have got to be _kidding_ me!"

This time I couldn't help it. I completely cracked up.

My boyfriend just stared at me with that same expression until I had all but laughed myself out. "Oh jeez, Eiji," I gasped as I tried to catch my breath, "that expression…it's priceless! You should see your face!"

Eiji still didn't laugh. "Please tell me you're joking," he repeated incredulously. "You are _killing_ me!"

I stifled another burst of laughter and favored him with a flat look. Eiji covered his face and wailed loudly enough that even some of the other diners outside of the window looked at us in alarm. "That was a dirty trick. You cheater!"

"Does that mean that you don't want to hear what the winner gets?" I asked mildly as I glanced at the bill I was going to have to pay for losing earlier today.

That put a stop to Eiji's protests quickly enough and he stared at me suspiciously through his fingers. "What was that?"

"You made me pay for this," I pointed out. "I always figured challenges were just contests. So whoever wins this one should get a prize, right?"

Blue eyes regarded me curiously without blinking. "Tell me what it is and I'll get back to you."

I shrugged as if it didn't matter, even though my insides danced and cheered in anticipation of the inevitable outcome. Either way, we both won. "Well, whoever caves first has to submit to whatever the other one wants to do to him, of course. You're the one with the older sisters, Eiji, shouldn't you have picked up on this from their manga?"

"You say that like all girls don't read it," he replied wryly.

"If my sister does, I don't want to hear about it."

Without answered, Eiji lowered his hands and frowned at me thoughtfully. At last he nodded. "All right. Deal. But we have to get to this place within two days. I still have to get back to Tokyo eventually, remember."

"That seems fair," I agreed, and held out a hand towards him. "Pinky promise."

At that, Eiji finally smiled. "I thought I was supposed to say things like that," he pointed out as he linked his fingers with mine. A jolt went through me at that touch and for a moment I wondered if I was actually going to be able to win this game as easily as I had thought. "You're supposed to be the more mature one."

I grinned and held onto his little finger as long as I could. Challenge or no, I always wanted that connection between us, even when we didn't need the physical contact to be with each other. "What can I say?" I told him contentedly. "You bring out the best in me."


	8. Chapter Eight: Kiss and Tell

_Author's Note: So, family people are still sick and there were some massive money issues stemming from the fact that right after I graduated with my bachelor's degree (woohoo!), I was accepted to the University of Glasgow for my graduate degree…only to land in the hospital four times in a row between the start of March and the end of May. So since then, I have been working three jobs, scrimping and saving to make up for the hospital and repair bills (I got smacked by a car riding my bike), plus applying for travel visas and financial aid…yeah. The good news is, since I leave for Glasgow in one month, I have no more work commitments for a short period of time, after which I will have a fairly easy class schedule that should give me enough time to keep up with this at least during the first term. Minus NaNo, of course…_

…_yeah, that's really it. Um, Eiji's turn here. Going to try and keep up this update thing for as long as I can, since I have a feeling I'll have to go on a massive hiatus during my second term creative project and third term thesis. But maybe we'll get lucky!_

**Chapter Eight: Kiss and Tell**

_I won't say that it's you making me feel this way__  
It's the heart and the soul and the body and brain  
Driving me insane_  
-"Roll With the Wind," Alexander Rybak

When my sadistic tease of a boyfriend walked back into the room with water dripping from his hair over his face and shoulders and chest, I started wondering if it wouldn't be better to be single again. At least then I had a reliable, completely compliant outlet for my frustration.

"You all right over there?" Oishi asked me in concern. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. The bastard. The cheating bastard. I never looked that hot after I got out of the shower. My hair always ended up standing up after I pushed it out of my eyes and in the end I just looked like a weird redheaded fish. He, on the other hand, looked like walking, talking sex. I couldn't even fight back in kind and he knew it, the jerk. "You look a little sick."

I shook my head and fixed my gaze anywhere else in the room that wasn't Oishi. It was harder than it should have been. He was doing this on purpose. He _had_ to be doing it on purpose. "Just tired after today," I mumbled reluctantly.

The slow, wry smile that spread across his face was maddening even when I couldn't see it. I could hear it and that was enough. Damn it, I was too competitive to deal with this whole stupid bet like the joke Oishi probably meant it to be, and he knew it, too. "I thought you were in training for like half of every day," he commented, obviously amused.

"Maybe you're just more of a challenge?" I tried teasing. It pretty much fell flat, though, and from the sudden cough Oishi developed, he saw right through me.

"If you're sure," he went on after a moment. "The shower's all yours now. No one else is in there this late at night."

My head snapped up and I stared at him in disbelief that he'd honestly say something like that at a time like _this!_ As he vigorously rubbed at his hair with the towel and raised his eyebrows at me knowingly, I tried not to glare too obviously. That was it. All bets were off.

It was officially all right for me to play dirty. After a long, _long_ shower.

I took my time scrubbing off all of the dirt and grime from the day and made myself relax into the routine. Okay, normally I wasn't this horny. Mostly. Some of the time. I was at least able to control myself better than this around Oishi, anyway, which didn't make a lot of sense when I thought about it…you'd think being with my boyfriend would make things worse, right? But it was still true. When I was away from him, I wanted to be with him so badly that it hurt whenever I thought about him, which was pretty much constantly. When he was actually there within my reach, though? Just his presence was enough.

Usually. When he wasn't exploiting the fact that I was too proud to back down from a challenge, no matter how pointless or silly or just plain _mean_ and _cruel_ and…

I let out a sound that was me trying to scream and groan in frustration at the same time, and rested my head against the tiles of the bathroom wall. Stupid Oishi, always knowing me so well, even better than I knew myself, and using it to drive me completely batshit nuts at the worst possible moment.

I _had _to figure out how to mess with him just as much as he was me. My mind was completely blank as I vigorously toweled myself off, but I didn't let it bother me. I was sure to think of something.

Besides, I was already bothered enough as it was.

* * *

By the time I finally made my way back to the room, I was feeling a little bit more under control. Oishi was too occupied to notice when I slipped back through the door, which was probably good since otherwise he might have started back in on me again. But no, he was too busy wrapping up a conversation on his phone…something related to school, from what I heard on my end, but since there was an awful lot of talk about acid and lactating (or at least that's what I thought I heard), it could have been about somebody's pregnant aunt for all I knew. Either way, it meant that all I had to worry about were the automatic tingles and sparks that sprang up under my skin whenever I so much as saw him.

I watched my boyfriend as objectively as I could, trying to focus less on how hard he made my heart pound and more on any openings I could find to win his stupid bet. It wasn't working very well, to be honest. Still, when Oishi uncrossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, still without noticing that I was back, the idea sprang into my head all at once.

_Oh, this is gonna be good._

Oishi rolled his eyes at something the other caller said and his gaze fell on me leaning against the closet door, watching him wryly. He grinned at me, gestured to show he was almost finished with the call, and sat up straight again. "Sure. Just bring your notes and we'll figure out what we missed before. Uh-huh. Yeah. Great. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I just stood there silently while he flipped his phone closed, smiled at me, waited, and finally asked, "What is it? Did I say something?"

With a shake of my head, I smiled back. "Mmmnope."

The look of bemusement on my boyfriend's face was priceless. "Well, why are you staring then?"

I moved towards him, one deliberate step at a time. "Maybe," I replied casually, "maybe I just like looking at you."

A familiar gleam I always enjoyed seeing came into Oishi's eye. "Is that so."

"Yes. Yes," I confirmed, "it is."

"You do realize this means you lose the bet," he pointed out.

"Says who?" I demanded as I stopped just in front of him. "You never said anything about looking. Just no kissing or anything. Remember?"

His brow creased and Oishi frowned. "Oh. I suppose…"

With a strangled choking sound, he trailed off as I plopped right down in his lap. As I swung my leg over his, staring down at him as innocently as I could, he swallowed with an audible click and squeaked, "I'm pretty sure this is against the rules."

"What?" I shifted my weight a bit and tried not to gloat too much over the look that crossed Oishi's face when I moved. "I'm just sitting."

"You're cheating," he choked out.

I didn't say anything. I didn't have to. Besides, I could feel just how much Oishi was reacting to my position and it was starting to make it hard for me concentrate as well.

Knowing I had that much power over him was totally going to my head. Among other things.

"Eiji." Oishi swallowed and tried to sound stern. It didn't really work out so well. "Get off of me, please."

_This makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside._ I wrapped my arms around his neck and relaxed into him. "Why? You're so comfy!"

The sound that came out of Oishi's throat wasn't something I could describe, but I'm pretty sure it meant that we had better get to the resort sooner than he had planned.

* * *

The ride to the onsen the next day was interesting, to say the least. We nearly missed our train first thing in the morning, but considering how badly we'd slept the last night, it wasn't that surprising really. Oishi's eyes were heavy with bags big enough to stuff a couple of puppies into, his face covered in tiny nicks from a morning shave that wasn't quite as easy as usual, and he kept spilling his instant coffee all through breakfast. Given that I'd spent twice as long in the bathroom trying and failing to get my hair to lie down the way I liked after a restless night of tossing and turning and trying my best to both enjoy sleeping beside my boyfriend and _not_ let him in on just how much his proximity to me was screwing with my brain, I didn't really have any right to pass judgment on him for looking exhausted. He looked about as tired as I felt, after all.

Even with no sleep, though, Oishi kept trying to fight dirty. And I kept giving it right back as bad as it got.

When he lavished entirely too much attention on his soda straw while buying our tickets, I made a point of making sure I kept putting our luggage on the ground so I had to bend down to pick it up. When I made a comment about how the weight I was losing meant that my pants just _refused_ to stay up, he made up an invisible bug to blow off of the back of my neck. It got to the point where everything we said or did was heavy with meaning, right down to talking about how fast the new bullet trains were and stuffing our bags under the seats on the train. It was _exhausting._

By the time the snack and beverage cart came by, I was running out of witty, innuendo-laden retorts, but I still managed a tart, "Something salty, please" when the kid wheeling the cart stopped to see what we would like.

"You like salty things, Eiji?" Oishi asked with an ironic smile that bordered on a grimace.

"Love them," I replied as sweetly as I could. "You should know that by now."

"Mind if I test that theory later, then?"

I moved my shoulders in a convulsive jerk that might have passed as a shrug from someone who didn't feel like they were about to jump the next living thing that so much as said hello to them. "Can you afford it?"

The cart boy looked back and forth between us nervously. "And you, sir?" he asked Oishi too loudly.

My boyfriend smiled at him tiredly and bought a large can of peach Qoo. "Since when do you drink that much Qoo?" I asked with a little trepidation.

"It's refreshing," he explained shortly, too tired to really elaborate. I sighed and closed my eyes, hoping to catch a short nap before we arrived, but not before I saw the cart boy hurry away with a look of worry at the two of us.

I guess I couldn't blame him. If I hadn't known better, even _I_ would have thought that he and I were fighting about something.

There was a tiny _psh_ sound and I opened my eyes minutely to see Oishi starting in on his drink. When he saw me watching him, he raised an eyebrow at me silently. I made a small sound in the back of my throat and let my eyes drift closed again when he nodded and turned to look out of the window at the countryside blazing by.

That was one of the nicest things about him; I didn't have to explain myself or even speak out loud for us to still understand each other. An entire conversation had passed in those few gestures. _Want any? Your snacks? Or just taking a nap?_

_I'm good. Sleep time now._

_I'll save you some for when you wake up. Talk to you then._

It was true that I liked noise and excitement in general, but that didn't mean I didn't know how to appreciate and enjoy a moment of silence every now and then. Oishi got that without me having to ever tell him. I loved those quiet moments he gave me almost as much as I loved Oishi himself.

The bastard.

I relaxed into my seat, focusing on the sound of the engines rumbling beneath our feet and Oishi's breathing across from me. I would probably be back up to speed after a half hour or so.

Between one thought and the next, I was yanked violently out of a sleep so deep that I couldn't even remember any dreams, and almost jumped straight out of my skin when someone touched my shoulder.

"Hey, hey!" Without pausing, Oishi moved his hand lightly over to rub the back of my neck. "You were really out there. Sleep well?"

I think I said yes, but it came out sounding more like, "Grag."

Oishi just smiled and handed me his mostly empty juice can. "You were drooling, did you know?"

Well, that was just great to hear. Slobbering all over myself in public while totally passed out. At least I know I never snored. I gulped down the last few mouthfuls of Qoo gratefully and decided to try that whole speaking thing again. "How long was I asleep?"

"Three hours." Oishi reached out to help me to my feet and then knelt down to get our overnight bags. "I fell asleep for a couple myself, but I made sure to set my watch to go off before we got here."

"Oh." That was smart. I should have thought of something like that. "Wait, we're already there?"

"We just have to walk to the hotel," he replied with a smile. Obviously the nap had done him well. I felt better myself, even if I felt bad about being such lousy company for him during the train ride. "Unless you want to stop at the gift shop here first?"

The flash in his eyes snapped me back to reality one hundred percent with a surge of heat and I wanted to punch him in the face for reminding me of that stupid bet. Or jump him right there in the train car, my winning streak be damned. Maybe both at the same time.

Instead, I shook my head sympathetically. "No, that's all right. You look so tired, still. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can lie down. And sleep."

"Of course," Oishi replied calmly, but there was a familiar look in his eyes that made me feel a little bit better about how desperate I suddenly was for him. At least I wasn't the only one.

"You up for another contest?" I asked suddenly. Oishi looked at me in confusion and I snatched my bag from his hand and turned on my heel towards the doors. "Race you to the hotel!"

As I took off at top speed, I could hear him calling behind me, "Eiji, wait! You don't even know where it is!"

"Better hurry up, then!" I called back, and his breathless laughter as he chased after me almost made the whole painful, stifling, _frustrating_ ordeal entirely worth it.


End file.
